
Class _J^ji4lA^ 
Book„ 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT, 



(^oice Staining for ^peaftera 



Objective and Subjective Voice 



By 



Charles Christian Morhart 



American Lutheran Publication Board 

Pittsburgh, Pa. 

1909 



Tt*,^;. 



V 




CoPYRieHT, 1909 
BY 

American Luthhran Publication Board 
Pittsburgh, Pa. 



PRESS OF 

PITTSBURGH printing COMPANY 

PITTSBURGH, PA. 



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Contents. 



PART ONE : OBJECTIVE VOICE. 



CHAPTER ONE. 

Preparatory Advice. 

Value of Training 11 

Conscious Effort 11 

Habitual Training 12 

Memory 12 

CHAPTER TWO. 
Proper Position of the Vocal Organs. 

The Diaphragm 16 

Developing the Diaphragm 17 

Invigorating the Chest 18 

The Throat 18 

Head Movements 19 

The Lamyx 20 

The Soft Palate 20 

Combined Open Throat 21 

Italian Ah 22 

CHAPTER THREE. 
Removal of Defects. 

Aspiration Defect 24 

Bell Tones - 25 

Aspirate Consonants 26 

Throatiness Defect 27 

Orality Defect 28 

Head Resonance 29 

Voluminous Resonance 29 

Nostrility Defect 30 

Air Friction Defect 30 

Dangerous Pitch Defect 31 



4 CONTENTS— Continued. 

CHAPTER FOUR. 

Voice Building. 

Deep Breathing S4 

Breath Control 37 

Articulate Speech 39 

Triple Consonants 40 

Triple Vowels 41 

Difficult Words 41 

Hammering Syllables 43 

Difficult Sentences 44 

Throat Exercise 45 

Elements of Voice 48 

CHAPTER FIVE. 

Dark and Bright Voice. 

Dark Voice 50 

Dark Form 50 

Dark Form Exercises 51 

Extremely Dark Form 52 

Dark Intermittent Stress 52 

Seriousness 53 

Absolute Profundity 54 

Bright Voice 54 

Bright Form 54 

Extremely Bright Form 55 

Bright Pitch 56 

Bright Time 56 

Bright Stress 57 

Bright Throat 58 

Bright Resonance 59 

Clearing the Voice 60 

CHAPTER SIX. 

Strengthening the Voice. 

Vocal Power 64 

Glottis Blow 67 

Modulation in Force 68 

Vital Carriage 69 

Food and Exercise 70 

CHAPTER SEVEN. 
FlexibiHty of Voice in Pitch. 

Progressive Pitches 72 

Slides 75 



CONTENTS— Continued. 5 

Glides 76 

Rising Glide in the High Register 77 

Falling Glide in the High Register 77 

Rising Glide in the Low Register 78 

Fallng Glide in the Low Register 78 

Modulation in Pitch 79 

Preparatory Pitch 79 

Progression in Pitch 80 

CHAPTER EIGHT. 

Beautifying the Voice. 

The Pure Timbre 82 

Beautiful Vowels 82 

Beautiful Consonants 84 

Beautiful Stress 84 

Enriching the Voice 86 

Sweetness of Voice 87 

Beautiful Voice 87 

CHAPTER NINE. 
Power. 

Calmness of Voice 91 

Dignity and Moral Grandeur in Voice 91 

Grandeur in Timbre 92 

Grandeur in Stress 94 

Safeguards 94 

Breath Backing 95 

CHAPTER TEN. 
Supplementary Helps. 

Face and Eyes 97 

Magnetic Eyes 98 

Eye Control 99 

Polish and Politeness 100 

Dignity 101 

Tone Color 102 

Mental Tone Color 103 

Miniature Exercise 105 



CONTENTS— Continued. 

PART TWO : SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 



CHAPTER ONE. 
Word Power. 

Objective and Subjective Voice Ill 

Vocabulary Ill 

Diction 113 

Emphasis 114 

CHAPTER TWO. 
Feeling and Magnetic Warmth. 

Brain Functions 119 

Magnetic Forces and Conditions 120 

Feeling 121 

Intensity 123 

Character Force 127 

Thrilling Power 128 

Magnetic Power 129 

CHAPTER THREE. 
The Picture. 

Value of Pictures 133 

Mental Vision 133 

Illusion 135 

CHAPTER FOUR. 
Emotional Colors. 

Breaking the Crust 138 

Emotional Color 139 

Ten Passions 140 

Erratic Passion 143 

CHAPTER FIVE. 
Voice Summits. 

Proportion , 145 

Climacteric Voice 145 

Expressive Slide 148 

Thunderbursts 149 

Steady Onbeat 150 

Cadence 151 

Glide Lengths 152 



CONTENTS— Continued. 7 

CHAPTER SIX. 
Personality. 

Value of Personality 154 

Nobility 155 

Collective Strength 157 

Coordination 157 

Power of Readiness 159 

New Habits 160 

CHAPTER SEVEN. 
Individualities. 

Definition of Individuality 162 

Vowel Changes 162 

Consonant Changes 162 

Timbres 162 

Gesticulation 165 

Automatic Actions 165 

Refinement 166 

Roughness 167 

Vigor 167 

Youth 167 

Maturity 168 

Age 168 

The Sexes 168 

Dialects 169 

Character Creations 169 

Portraying Character 170 

CHAPTER EIGHT. 
Public Speaking. 

Natural Speaking 172 

Beginning an Address 174 

Bible and Hymn Reading 175 

Pictures from Life 178 

Proper Spirit 179 

Applause 180 

Telling Points 181 

CHAPTER NINE. 
The Lyceum. 

Placing the Voice 183 

Expressive Value of Action 185 

Control of Audiences 187 



CONTENTS— Continued. 

THE BEST EXERCISES FOR PRACTICE. 



Waist Movements 9 

Chest Tapping 10 

Throat Massage 10 

Head Movements 11 

Throat Exercise 12 

Italian Ah 15 

Nostril Exercise 23 

"Rome" 23 

Inhaling or Exhaling While Walking 31 

Thin Pure Tone for Breath Control 47 

Counting Tens in One Exhalation 33 

Ip, It, Ik 35 

EE, AH, OO, 36 

Difficult Words 38 

OH— 00 Throat Exercise 41 

Holding a Tone in Dark Form 46 

Vibrating the Diaphragm 48 

Bell Tones 56 

Glottis Stroke, Tone and Slide 58 

Saying Roll or Blow 60 

Loud Counting 61 

Counting One Seven Times 62 

Nine Pitches in Quotations 69 

Swelling Slides 72 

Swelled and Diminished Bell Tone 83 

Fourfold Resonance 87 

Hymn in the Vale of Chamouni 91 

Rapid Counting 94 

Eye Movements 96 

Miniature Exercise 105 

Prolonged Tone in Intermittent Stress 118 

Electric Exercise 121 

Magnetic Exercise 121 

Rapidity of Utterance 122 

Intense Utterance 122 

Thrilling Power 125 

Ten Passions 136 

Climax in Pitch and Force 141 

Climax in Force, Energy and Intensity 142 

Dramatic Slides 143 

Thunderbursts 197 

Steady Onbeat 145 

Cadence 199 



PART ONE 



Objective Voice 



CHAPTER ONE. 



PREPARATORY ADVICE. 



Value of Training. 

A course of training in voice culture is valuable be- 
cause it unfolds and develops all the faculties of expression. 

A few quotations will serve to show what some au- 
thorities have thought of the value of voice training. 
Quintilian said, "We cannot be so natural that rules cannot 
help us." Beecher said of his success in life, "I owe much 
of my success in life to the fact that for thirty years I spent 
a part of each day in elocutionary studies." Spurgeon 
gave this advice, "I believe that every man should train 
his voice and body under some system of elocution : first, 
for the health it affords; second, for its educating effects; 
third, for the advantage it gives a man over others for use- 
fulness." And Gladstone said, ''Many a professional man, 
now in obscurity, might rise to the highest rank, if he 
were far-seeing enough to train his voice and body as well 
as his mind." 

Voice culture, however, will not inevitably make every 
man an orator. Training develops orators, but oratory 
itself is a divine gift. Orators simply are orators. 

Conscious Effort. 

Any man can acquire a good voice of he will try. The 
important thing is to wish to get such a voice, and to think 
of that all the time. This is easily explained. If you de- 



12 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

sire a certain result and keep thinking about it, you will 
naturally do the things that help you. This is true espe- 
cially in the use of the vocal cords. The vocal cords are 
muscles. If you use muscles without thinking, they will 
act with the least possible effort. But if you think while 
you are exercising, you consciously contract the muscles 
and get more exercise. If you are only half determined, 
there is no strength. All vocal exercise is worthless when 
the mind is on one thing, and the voice is on another. 
Exercise that bears the imprint of purpose develops 
character and promotes rapid progress. It may be said 
that there is scarcely anything in the world, within the 
range of possibility, which cannot be accomplished, if will 
power is directed solely, energetically and continually to 
the end that is desired. Genius is intelligent toil ! 

Vocal effort should be concentrated on a single detail, 
and that detail should not be abandoned till the desired 
result is obtained. The mind should always be conscious 
of the details of practice; a scattered use of the voice is 
not beneficial. 

Work, however, should not become drudgery. The 
play impulse is essential to development in vocal and 
physical training. The student of the art of expression 
should never exercise without a responsive frame of mind. 

Habitual Training. 

Our daily habits should receive careful attention and 
constant correction. Careless habits destroy the most 
careful training. 

Especial care should be taken in ordinary conversa- 
tion, for conversation is the foundation of the art of good 
speaking. Cultivation in the art of conversation is a prac- 
tical education in oratory. All the faults in the diction 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 13 

of daily life will surely appear when the speaker opens his 
mouth in public. 

The speaker should always imagine himself before an 
audience. This method of oratorical training was used 
by Clay, Webster and Patrick Henry, who sought the soli- 
tude of barns and fields and there developed their gift of 
speech by addressing large imaginary audiences. The 
greatest care should be taken in addressing even such au- 
diences. A speaker should never deliver an address into 
empty space, whether an audience is present or not. 

All vocal exercises should be performed in solitude. 
This will leave the mind free to concentrate itself upon the 
work, and will permit the effect of the work to sink deep 
into the soul. 

The exercises should furthermore be performed in a 
standing position. The speaker should prepare himself 
for platform work by learning to think, speak and act on 
his feet. Automatic walking, however, is not a good habit. 

More effort may be put into preparatory work than 
is necessary in public work. A rope should not be too short 
when it is needed. 

A fixed habit of absolute repose and self-control is 
another element of progress in the art of expression. Such 
repose is one of the secrets which may be used in con- 
trolling men. You cannot control others unless you can 
control yourself. 

Habitual training should seek to eradicate all auto- 
matic actions of the body; there should be no winking of 
the eyes, drumming of the fingers, swinging of the legs, 
fidgeting of the hands, falling of the abdomen, springing 
of the knees, etc., or anything else that w^ill cause a leak- 
age of personal magnetism. 



14 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Memory. 

The speaker should make persistent efforts to 
strengthen his memory. Even an obstinate memory will 
become good as soon as a few victories have been gained 
over it. Many a speaker who reads his addresses or uses 
notes because he thinks he has no memory, would soon 
acquire a strong memory if he would heroically discard 
his notes and make a real effort to achieve success in re- 
membering. We should never give up a task because 
it is hard to do. 

A deep impression produces memory. An abnormal 
impression produces a haunting memory. A superficial 
impression produces ordinary interest. Every faculty has 
a memory foundation. 

Thinking makes a strong impression on the mind. 
The pith of a thought should be lodged in the brain by 
active reflection and consideration, followed by an equally 
clear revival and use of the idea. Lines may be memorized 
by getting and working out the ideas; the words then 
come of themselves. All memory systems are useful be- 
cause they exercise the memory. 

Some of the following exercises may be useful in 
strengthening the memory: 

1. Pick out the emphatic words of a sentence and 
rebuild the sentence upon them. 

2. Carry out a train of thought; recall the thoughts 
first in the regular order then backwards. 

3. Catch the points of an address and with their aid 
recall the whole discourse. 

4. After going from one place to another, endeavor 
to recall in their order all objects which you saw. 

5. On retiring at night, try to recall the events of 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 15 

the day. Some persons train their memory by fixing 
thoughts in the mind just before going to sleep and re- 
calling them in the morning. 

6. Make an effort to fix and frequently recall certain 
events and dates in history. 

7. Create a mental vision of the picture or scene sug- 
gested by certain words or sentences, and stamp this 
vision, with all its details, on the mind. 

8. Facts may be retained by analyzing them. 

9. Questions and answers serve to make statements 
clear and to impress them on the mind. 

The faculty of observing, absorbing, developing and 
retaining facts and thoughts furnishes valuable material 
to public speakers. 

Some men never depend on their memory, but imme- 
diately record important observations and noteworthy 
thoughts in a note book. 



CHAPTER TWO. 



PROPER POSITION OF THE VOCAL ORGANS. 



The Diaphragm. 

A logical course of voice training should observe 
the following order: first, knowledge of the true position 
of the organs; second, removal of defects; third, voice 
building proper. 

The principal organs of speech are the diaphragm, 
the throat, the larynx and the soft palate. 

The whole human vocal apparatus is like a pipe organ. 
The diaphragm is the motor; the lungs are the bellows; the 
throat represents the pipes; the mouth, etc., is the key- 
board. It will be seen at once that the work of speaking 
should be done by the diaphragm. 

The diaphragm serves a twofold purpose. In breath- 
ing, it rises and falls and thereby inflates and deflates the 
lungs like a pair of bellows. In speaking, it drives a col- 
umn of air against the vocal cords in the larynx and pro- 
duces vocal sound by vibrating them. The supply of air 
which is used in vocalization is controlled entirely by the 
diaphragm. 

All muscular energy in speaking should be confined 
to the action of the diaphragm. The voice should never 
be made loud and strong by straining and constricting the 
throat. The throat should always be as languid and as 
"loose as a rag." This is an important secret in using the 
voice properly. When the diaphragm and the throat are 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 17 

used properly, the voice will never become tired and husky. 

The diaphragm can never become tired and husky be- 
cause it acts involuntarily like the heart and the stomach, 
which never grow tired. Voluntary muscles, which musi 
be directed by the will, always become tired when they are 
used very much. Speakers should therefore not strain 
the voluntary muscles of the throat and the chest, but 
throw all strain on the diaphragm. 

The function of the diaphragm in breathing should 
also be carefully studied. Respiration includes inhala- 
tion andr exhalation. The diaphragm falls, relaxes and ex- 
pands during an inhalation; it rises and contracts during 
an exhalation. Both actions should be full and complete. 

The lungs should co-operate with the diaphragm in 
breathing. They should be inflated in all their parts by 
an even and full inspiration: the chest should rise, the sides 
should stretch out laterally, and the whole abdomen should 
swell out. The principal inspiratory effort should be ex- 
erted at the lowest part of the lung cavity. In speaking, 
the lower lobes of the lungs should be kept expanded for 
the purpose of retaining as much reserve air as possible. 
Full, tense lungs will permit the voice to reverberate 
through the chest, vibrate the body and thrill the audience. 

Developing the Diaphragm. 

The diaphragm follows the edge of the lowest ribs 
entirely around the body and derives its strength from 
the waist muscles. 

To develop the muscles of the diaphragm, place the 
palms of the hands on the right and the left side of the 
body at the lowest ribs; inhale slowly and noiselessly 
through the nose till the lungs are filled to their utmost 



i8 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

capacity; then, holding the lungs full, execute the follow- 
ing movements : 

Waist Movement Exercise i. — Press the palms of 
the hands vigorously against the extended sides; at the 
same time bend the body over far to the right, hinging 
only at the v^aist, and not at the hips. Then rise to the 
upright position and rest by relaxing the pressure for a 
moment without, however, permitting any escape of air. 
Next, bend far over to the left, etc. 

Exercise 2. — In the same manner, bend forward and 
backward. 

Exercise 3. — Bend right, forward, left, backward in 
one unbroken rotary movement, without raising the body. 
Reverse the action; move from left to right. The lungs 
must be full, and the hands must press against the sides 
during the movements. 

Invigorating the Chest. 

Chest Tapping Exercise. — Fill the lungs, hold the 
breath. Then gently but very rapidly tap and slap the 
whole chest with the palms of the hands. The hands 
should be thrown from the wrists and should be perfectly 
relaxed. The chest should not be pounded. 

The Throat. 

The throat may be made flexible and strong by mas- 
sage exercises. Massage hardens and vitalizes the neck and 
the throat to such a degree that colds and soreness cannot 
settle there ; it relieves sore throats. 

The four manipulations used in massage are stroking, 
rubbing, squeezing and striking. The stroking should be 
done with the flat of the hand moving toward the heart 
in varying degrees of pressure. In rubbing, the finger tips 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 19 

should move in small circles over a small area. Squeezing 
is performed by grasping the tissues between the thumb 
and the fingers. Striking requires blows given with the 
flat of the hand or the finger tips. The muscles under 
treatment should be in a relaxed state. Massage at bed- 
time will cause a sleepless night. 

Throat Massage Exercise. — Stretch the throat by 
raising the chin up high and holding the larynx, or Adam's 
apple, down near the collar bone by a yawning action. 
Holding the throat in this position and rapidly strike light 
blows all over it with the finger tips of both hands. 

The stretched throat may also be stroked, rubbed and 
squeezed. 

Head Movements. 

The following exercises give physical size to the 
muscles of the larynx. The larynx should be held down 
during the exercises; this is very important. 

Exercise i. — Turn the head with a sudden hard and 
full blow so far to the right that the chin will be nearly 
over the right shoulder; from that position, throw the 
head to the left. Do not move the body with the blow. 

Exercise 2. — Bow the head forward till the chin 
strikes the chest. Then raise the chin till the head nearly 
touches the back. 

Exercise 3. — Lower the head sideways to the right 
shoulder, keeping the face to the front, until the right ear 
is near the shoulder. Reverse the action; drop the head 
toward the left shoulder. 

Exercise 4. — Throw the shoulders back while stretch- 
ing the neck and the larynx forward. Reverse the action ; 
draw the chin in and throw the shoulders forward. 



20 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Exercise 5. — Move the head in a circle by lowering 
it to the right, to the front, to the left and far to the back. 
Reverse the order of rotation; lower the head to the left, to 
the front, to the right, to the back. 

The Larynx. 

The larynx, or Adam's apple, is a marvelous vocal 
instrument. It contains the vocal cords, which vibrate 
like the reeds of an organ when the air is driven over them. 
It rises in the throat when the voice rises in pitch, and 
falls when the pitch falls. At the same time the vocal 
cords within the larynx accompany the rising and falling 
of the larynx by becoming short when the pitch rises and 
long when it falls. 

A low and deep voice can be acquired mechanically by 
holding the larynx down by a concealed yawning action 
and using a low pitch of voice in conversation. The throat 
should, however, not be strained. 

Throat Exercise. — Place the back of the hand under 
the chin, with the thumb toward the ear; press the hand 
in against the throat above the larynx; then let the throat 
resist the pushing of the hand and drive it away. Practice 
this till you can throw the corner of the throat out and 
in without the resistance of the hand. 

Each repulse of the hand throws the throat forward 
and moves the larynx downward to such an extent that 
the throat looks like a double chin. Speakers generally 
have a full throat and a deep-lying larynx. 

The Soft Palate. 

The palate, or roof of the mouth, forms the sounding 
board of the voice. The front part, which begins with the 
upper teeth and is bony and hard, is called the hard palate. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 21 

The soft continuation of the hard palate, which can be 
raised and lowered at will, is called the soft palate. The 
soft palate terminates in a little tongue, called the uvula. 
Above the soft palate, the head contains a resonant nasal 
chamber. 

The palate determines the quality of vocal sounds. 
When the column of sound coming from the throat is di- 
rected against the hard and thick part of the palate, at 
the upper teeth, the sound is bright and clear; when it 
strikes the soft palate in the upper posterior part of the 
mouth, the sound is mufifled and dark. The hard and the 
soft palate thus are to the voice what the forte and the 
piano pedals are to the piano. Words change in bright- 
ness and in darkness in a musical scale according to the 
point of contact on the palate. 

The soft palate and the uvula obstruct the voice when 
they hang down. A collapsed palate kills sound in the 
mouth. A perfectly executed tone should pass directly 
from the larynx to the teeth without interference from the 
throat, uvula and soft palate. 

The soft palate should always be held in a raised, gap- 
ing position. The intelHgence of wishing and desiring a 
raised soft palate will create an open throat and remove all 
obstructions from the mouth. The higher the uvula, the 
fuller the voice. 

Combined Open Throat. 

The interior cavity of the mouth and of the throat 
should be as large as possible. The combined proper posi- 
tion of the tongue, the soft palate, the throat and the 
larynx is called the open throat. The open throat is neces- 
sary for the full and unobstructed emission of sound. 
Birds always throw the throat open in singing. 



22 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

These four essentials of the open throat should be 
remembered: The tongue should be sunk and held down 
especially in the back of the mouth; the soft palate should 
be drawn up out of the way; the throat should be out 
under the chin ; the larynx should be down near the collar 
bone. These four parts should be held in place without 
any effort. The diaphragm should bear the strain of 
speaking. 

These four parts enlarge the cavity of the mouth and 
give the voice great volume. Volume is simply largeness 
of voice, not force. A cannon with a large bore, or diam- 
eter, has more volume in sound than a cannon with a 
smaller bore and the same charge of powder. 

The speaker should adopt the open throat before he 
begins speaking. An unprepared voice is like a violin 
without the strings in order. The great secret of voice en- 
durance lies in holding the throat open without any effort 
at the throat during the speaking. 

In addition to this, the speaker should stand with the 
weight of the body near the ball of one foot ; if the weight 
is on the heels, he will get a pain in the back or in the 
head from the constant jarring of the spine and the brain. 
The body should be ball-bearing. 

Italian Ah. 

This exercise is based on the vowel ah, as in father, 
which is the only fully open vowel sound. This vowel 
opens the front, middle and back parts of the mouth. 
Singers call it the Itahan ah and make it the basis of all 
voice building. When this vowel is prolonged as a pure 
tone, it makes the voice grow rapidly. We shall use it in 
many places and many ways. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 23 

Exercise. — Prolong the tone ah in a low, thin and pure 
voice by singing it as a sustained note. The throat should 
be fully open and relaxed. 

The open throat lowers the larynx, forces the corner 
of the throat out, raises the uvula and depresses the base 
of the tongue. 



CHAPTER THREE. 



REMOVAL OF DEFECTS. 



Aspiration Defect. 

The abnormal defects which should be eradicated 
from the voice are aspiration, throatiness, orality and nos- 
trility. To these may be added air friction and dangerous 
pitch. 

Normal defects, or insufficiencies of the voice, such 
as weakness and lack of flexibility, are overcome by 
general vocal exercises. 

The first and worst of all vocal defects is aspiration, 
or the escape of unvibrated air with the tone. It causes 
clergymen's sore throat, "sandpapers" the tissues and de- 
stroys the timbre of the voice. Its excessive breathing is 
followed by exhaustion and nervousness. 

When sounds are perfectly executed, they consume 
only as much air as is needed to vibrate the vocal cords ; 
not the least breathing or whispering sound escapes with 
the tones; all the air that passes the vocal cords is vocal- 
ized. Aspiration, however, admixes a whisper element to 
the tones which is produced by the escape of unvibrated air. 

Perfect vocalization will make the greatest number of 
syllables or words on the least breath. The opposite takes 
place in whispering. The whisper makes the least num- 
ber of sounds on the greatest exhaustion of breath. The 
great difficulty in handling the voice is to obtain the great- 
est use of the voice with the least effort. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 25 

Perfectly vocalized words are not accompanied by any 
perceptible outward movement of the breath. Perfect 
tones are so completely vibrated that a feather placed on 
the back of the hand would not be blown away by the 
voice in speaking. The air should never leave the mouth 
in direct onward action like that of a bullet leaving a gun 
and going straight out. In perfect vocalization, the air 
leaving the mouth is diffused and goes forward, upward 
and dow^nward in one enlarging funnel of vibrated sound 
waves. The vocalization of Spurgeon was so perfect that 
he could be heard as well at the extreme limits of the au- 
ditorium as on the platform. 

The breath must be controlled in speaking. The 
chest should not be permitted to fall, and the tendency of 
the diaphragm to let out all the air at once should be con- 
stantly counteracted. 

The old style of aspirating the voice to express sol- 
emnity and pathos in praying and preaching is a false as- 
sumption of seriousness, and greatly injures the voice. 

A darkened undertone is better than a whisper in 
speaking. 

Clergymen's sore throat is sometimes caused by in- 
haling through the mouth. The throat should be protected 
by inhaling through the nostrils. 

Aspiration may be cured by the development of bell 
tones and the removal of the aspiration in the aspirate 
consonants. 

Bell Tones. 

The bell tones are the quickest cure for aspiration. 
Words like bell, containing only liquid consonants, are 
non-explosive and have no tendency to cause the emission 



26 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

of air with the sounds even when they are uttered with 
great force or loudness. 

Exercise. — Prolong the word bell as a tone by holding 
the ''11" sound with almost closed lips and the least escape 
of air. 

At first say bell in a high, thin and fine tone; then 
practice it. in lower tones, taking care to let the sound die 
away with delicate musical vibrations in the same pitch. 
When this has been achieved, the tones may be given with 
force, or loudness. The throat should be open. A perfect 
voice may be built upon such a small foundation. This 
famous exercise not only removes the defect of aspiration 
but also greatly enriches the voice. We shall use it espe- 
cially in chapter five for bright resonance. 

Aspirate Consonants. 

Aspiration may also be cured by practicing the as- 
pirate consonants P, T and K for the purpose of acquiring 
their proper consonant positions. The removal of exces- 
sive aspiration from the aspirate consonants removes as- 
piration from the voice. 

Explosive consonants are the severest test of perfect 
vocalization; the word two, for instance, uttered with great 
force, should not blow away a feather or extinguish a 
candle. Although the voice may be directed toward a dis- 
tant point in the audience and the words may travel like 
a bullet, yet the air should never travel with the sounds 
when they leave the larynx. 

The source of aspiration lies principally in the aspi- 
rate consonants P, T, K, PI and S. The consonant P 
throws out a little puff of air from the lips; T aspirates 
from the tip of the tongue ; and K, from the larynx. These 
consonants should be practiced till they consume no more 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 27 

air than necessary. When P, T and K are vocalized into 
B, D and G, nothing but warmth should come from the 
mouth. 

Exercises in the aspirate consonants, will be given in 
the next chapter. 

The prolonged tone may also be used to cure aspira- 
tion. Prolong the tones ah and oh, and guard against the 
escape of unvibrated air. Practice this in various pitches, 
especially the lower ones. 

The second exercise in the chapter on strengthening 
the voice also cures aspiration. 

Throatiness Defect. 

There are three causes of throaty tones. The tone 
may be throaty, gutteral and hard from holding the throat 
structure rigid. It may be harsh and rasping from bunched 
throat muscles which fill up the throat. It may be rough 
from choked and swallowed speaking. 

Speakers who have never trained their voice have a 
vague idea that they must make a special muscular effort 
in the throat when they wish to speak in a loud voice. This 
is a great mistake and a prolific cause of clergymen's sore 
throat. Compression of the throat in speaking is disas- 
trous to the voice. When the air is forced through a con- 
stricted throat, it acts as a file, injures the mucous mem- 
brane and makes the voice husky. 

Throatiness is cured by removing all rigidity from the 
throat and transferring all muscular action to the dia- 
phragm. The throat should be nothing more than the 
channel through which the sound passes, and should in- 
variably be limp and fully open. 



28 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

The whole body, however, may be held tense and as 
solid as a rock. A solid body increases the resonance of 
the voice. 

Voice culture will quickly teach the throat to fall open 
naturally, without any muscular exertion, and to be in- 
stantly ready for any effort. The first attempts to speak 
with a languid open throat will, however, be failures. 

The voice should be kept in practice. Public speak- 
ing of every description will then be as easy to the throat 
as ordinary conversation, and the speaker will never be- 
come exhausted. Speakers often break down because the 
vocal effort is unusual or occurs but once a week. Any 
man would break down under unusual and unwonted labor 
thrust suddenly upon untrained muscles. The voice should 
be exercised every day. The speaker should always be 
ready. 

Ministers who must look down from high pulpits 
should take care not to draw in the chin, constrict the 
vocal cords and force the air through the throat. 

The effort to clear the throat by hawking and spitting 
forces air through the throat and the membrane, and 
should be avoided. 

Orality Defect. 

Orality is a lack of resonance and volume in the voice. 
A perfect voice combines head, mouth, throat and chest 
resonance. Orality confines resonance and volume to the 
mouth alone. A voice without head, throat and chest 
resonance is as weak and flat as a violin filled with sawdust. 

Female voices incline toward orality; male voices 
toward throatiness. Many women have flat voices because 
they confine the resonance of their words to the mouth. 

Orality is cured by the acquisition of the four reso- 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 29 

nances and of volume. Resonance is vibration of sound; 
volume is size, largeness and loudness of tone. 

Volume is acquired by lov^ering the larynx, depress- 
ing the base of the tongue, holding the corner of the throat 
out and raising the soft palate. Volume depends not on 
the size of the lungs, but on the size of the throat and of 
the mouth cavity, in other w^ords, on the open throat. 

Head Resonance. 

Head resonance depends on a large and free nasal 
chamber. When the nasal chamber is obstructed by a 
cold in the head, the voice is flat. Catarrhal voices are not 
resonant. 

The nasal chamber should alv^ays be cleared before 
speaking. This is done by the follov^ing exercise. 

Nostril Exercise. — To clear the nasal chamber, fill the 
lungs, place the thumb and the index finger against the 
two openings of the nose to close them entirely, then gen- 
tly blow^ the confined air into the nose and up into the 
head, v^ithout permitting the air to reach the ear-drum. 

This pressure will distend and open the nasal cham- 
bers for the unobstructed reverberation of sound. The 
resonance should, however, not be in the nose, but in the 
head. 

Voluminous Resonance. 

Resonance and volume may be combined for the re- 
moval of orality by practicing the following exercise. 

"Rome" Exercise. — Practice the word Rome in all 
pitches and ranges of voice and in various degrees of loud- 
ness. 

To do this take a full breath through the nostrils ; say 
"Ro" with open lips; prolong the "me" (m) sound, and, 
without breaking the sound, project it with a heavy reso- 



30 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

nance, imitative of distant thunder, into the open chambers 
of the head. The mouth, throat, and chest should vibrate 
in harmony v^ith the sound. This was a favorite exercise 
of Roscoe Conkling. 

The tone oh may be prolonged with closed lips in such 
a way that the tones will ring and reverberate in the head, 
mouth, throat and chest. This can be done on the street, 
on trains, etc. The tone will sound Hke distant thunder. 
The exercise is very good. 

Nostrility Defect. 

The sounds of the voice should not pass through the 
nose and the nostrils. Resonance in the nose is called 
nasality; resonance in the nostrils is called nostrility. 
Both nasality and nostrility are caused by the soft palate 
when it hangs down and diverts the tones from the mouth 
to the nose and the nostrils. 

The sounds coming from the larynx should pass out 
through the mouth; a small portion of the sound, how- 
ever, should pass up into the head and vibrate through 
the nasal chamber. Proper nasal resonance is a rich ele- 
ment of the voice. 

Nostrility is cured by habitually raising the soft palate 
and impinging the voice against the hard palate at the 
upper teeth; this insures perfect head resonance. 

Air Friction Defect. 

Throatiness is due to bunched throat muscles. Air 
friction is due to excessive use of air in speaking. Aspira- 
tion, or hissing sounds in the words, is due to imperfect 
vocalization. 

Excessive respiration is injurious because it dries up 
the moisture which keeps the lining of the nose and the 
throat soft. Respiration should be gentle and noiseless. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 31 

When the air passes through the nose with an audible, 
hissing sound, it burns out the membrane of the nasal pas- 
sages and produces inflammation of a serious nature, in- 
cluding catarrh. 

The speaker should especially avoid air friction in the 
throat. Throatiness is caused by constricting the throat 
and forcing the air through it. Air friction dries up the 
throat even when it is perfectly free and languid. Dryness 
in the throat is an indication that the breath is not being 
used properly. 

Air friction ceases when correct breathing is estab- 
lished. 

Dangerous Pitch Defect. 

The unvaried use of any pitch and especially the un- 
varied use of a high pitch is injurious to the vocal cords of 
the speaker and distressing to the ear of the auditors. 

Every voice has its own range running from its high- 
est to its lowest note. This scale may be divided into three 
sections : the high, the middle and the low, which are some- 
times called the head, throat and chest registers. Enthu- 
siastic, nervous, excited people speak in a high pitch; calm,, 
intellectual voices are the middle, or throat, register; com- 
manding, positive, serious characters employ a low pitch. 
A modulated low pitch is the best. A trained voice is at 
home in all pitches. 

Monotony of every kind is distressing. If one key of 
a piano were struck for half an hour, the strain would 
become intolerable. Exercises on a drum are uninterest- 
ing because the drum has only one note. Routine work, 
fixed hours, unvaried food, etc., become depressing both 
to the body and to the mind. In barbarous ages, men 
were tortured by water dropping on one spot of the body. 



Z2 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Unvaried tones are injurious to the vocal cords of 
the speaker. When the vocal cords are used in a monoto- 
nous way, they become as tired and v^orn as any muscles 
which are used without any relief. Natural speaking mod- 
ulates the voice in pitch, time, force, form, stress and 
quality. 

Monotonous use is also injurious to the growth of the 
voice. The voice grows as it is used, and therein lies the 
Ibest reason why it should be used right. 

Monotonous use of the voice wears out not only the 
^ocal cords of the speaker but also the ear-drum of the 
auditor. The ear-drum of the hearer must vibrate ex- 
actly as often as the vocal cords of the speaker. Audi- 
ences cannot bear monotonous speaking. Variety of ex- 
pression is refreshing. 

The most acute monotony is the unvaried use of a 
high pitch. Such use is injurious both to the speaker and 
to the auditor. This can be demonstrated scientifically. 
Every vibration of sound has two movements, one out, one 
in; the higher the sound, the higher the number of vibra- 
tions. Every octave of sound on a piano, ascending in 
pitch, doubles the number of vibrations of the preceding 
octave. The middle note C has two hundred and fifty-six 
vibrations to the second; the next C above has twice that 
number; the next C below has only half as many. It fol- 
lows that a high register must produce a greater strain 
on the ear and the vocal cords than a low register; every 
higher octave of sound doubles the work of the vocal 
cords and of the ear-drum. A voice pitched an octave 
lower than the middle C has only half the work required by 
the middle C. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 33 

The action of the vocal cords is wonderful. The 
length of the strings of a piano determines the number of 
their vibrations in a given time. A piano therefore has 
long and short wires. The little human vocal cords, how- 
ever, which are each only about an inch in length and not 
half an inch wide, do what the immense strings of the 
piano do. These little cords lengthen and relax to produce 
low tones; they shorten and tighten for high tones; and, 
at the same time, they move out and in to open or close 
the larynx. While this is being done, the larynx adjusts 
itself by rising or descending in the throat. This arrange- 
ment is a marvel of providential creation and design. 

A modulated low voice is always agreeable and im- 
pressive. The expression of dignity and seriousness nat- 
urally requires the use of a low register. A high pitch 
would be as much out of place at a funeral as a bombastic 
low pitch. 

The habitual use in daily life, of a modulated low pitch 
establishes control over the vocal cords, and serves as a 
valuable training for the voice. 

The speaker who develops a low but varied register in 
ordinary conversation will always be able to begin his 
public addresses in the proper pitch, and to raise or lower 
the voice at will. Old text books advised speakers not 
to begin speaking in too high a pitch. An untrained 
speaker, however, cannot begin to speak in a certain de- 
sired pitch. The troubles of an untrained speaker are 
further increased by the fact that if he begins wrong, he 
will continue in that pitch till the end; but if he should be- 
come energetic or excited, his voice will become higher 
and louder until at last the vocal cords must collapse. 
This shows that the speaker should control the pitch of 
his voice. 



CHAPTER FOUR. 



VOICE BUILDING. 



Deep Breathing. 

Deep breathing is simply the full and uniform expan- 
sion and contraction of the lungs in breathing. Such 
breathing expands and contracts the diaphragm in full 
range entirely around the body, and involves the front, 
upper, middle, lower and side parts of the whole chest 
frame. 

The shoulders, the chest, the abdomen and the sides 
should expand evenly and together. Each part ,>may, 
however, be developed separately by local deep breathing. 
Shoulder breathing raises and lowers the shoulders in 
breathing. Chest breathing raises and lowers the chest 
only. Women and feeble persons as a rule use only the 
upper chest in breathing. Abdominal breathing protrudes 
and withdraws the abdomen ; this breathing is strong dur- 
ing sleep and convalescence. Side breathing expands the 
sides only. Breathing should not be confined to one part 
alone, all parts should breathe together. Deep breathing 
should become a fixed habit. 

A few additional points should be remembered. The 
chest should always be held out. The abdomen should 
always be held in. The shoulders should be held down, 
not back, during an exhalation; the chest frame should 
be held extended during an exhalation. There should be 
free action at the lower chest and slight action at the 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 35 

upper chest. The inhalation should be directed to the 
lower chest. The exhalation should be inaugurated by the 
abdomen. The chest should always be carried in an ex- 
tended position. 

Deep breathing is injurious if it is overdone or done 
incorrectly. The lungs should be emptied before being 
filled. As much air as possible should be exhaled before 
the fresh air is allowed to rush in, otherwise the fresh 
air will be on top of the dead air in the lungs. The ex- 
pulsion of the dead air forces fresh air into the four apexes 
of the lungs. Enough air, however, always remains to 
keep the lungs in shape. All breathing should be quiet, 
regular, full and deep. 

It is beneficial to hold a full inhalation occasionally, 
for five seconds, for the purpose of driving the fresh air 
into the unused parts of the lungs. The inhaled air, how- 
ever, does not reach the deep cells or fill out the lungs. 
Every inhalation produces a rapid interchange of gases 
in the lungs; the gases meet about half way down; b}^ 
diffusion, the oxygen slowly spreads out into the air cells 
of the lobes of the lungs and is absorbed by the blood; the 
poisonous carbon dioxide gas is expelled and carried off in 
the exhalation. It takes the lungs about forty-five seconds 
to make the exchange of gases, and to absorb the oxygen 
into the blood. The inhaled oxygen destroys injurious 
bacteria and builds new tissues. The purified blood car- 
ries supplies to all parts of the body. 

Deep breathing should be carried on through the nose. 
A breath should not be taken through the mouth unless 
the air is pure. The nose is a spongy filter which catches 
up and carries off all dangerous substances. Respiration 
through the nose protects the throat and the lungs against 



36 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

dryness, cold, dust and poisonous germs in the air. The 
nose throws off about one pint of moisture every day. It 
is claimed that deep breathing will relieve catarrh and 
colds by carrying away moisture. Deep breathing cer- 
tainly prevents colds. 

Deep breathing counteracts nervous weakness by in- 
creasing the flow of blood. Nervousness prevents the full 
circulation of the blood. Discouraged and despondent 
people, such as widows, often die in a short time simply 
because they cease to breathe. Bad news has a depressing 
effect upon breathing, good news causes deep inhalations. 
A collapse of the chest, a sigh, an exhalation, panting, 
is an indication of weakness. Buoyancy is indicated by 
full lungs and vigorous breathing. Deep breathing is an 
aid to purity of thought and the restraint of morbid ap- 
petites. 

Exercise — Deep Breathing. — Hold the entire chest 
frame extended. Exhale steadily till the lungs are empty. 
Then inhale slowly and smoothly through the nose till the 
lungs are full. The inhalation should expand the lower 
chest uniformly both forward and sideways. The inhala- 
tion should be expended by an inward all around contrac- 
tion of the diaphragm on the line of the lower chest. 

Exercise — Inhaling or Exhaling while Walking. — 
Empty the lungs; take ten or more steps and simultane- 
ously fill the lungs. Fill the lungs and exhale gradually 
during ten or more steps. The value of this old exercise in 
breath control depends on the steadiness of the ingoing or 
outgoing breath. 

Exercise — Swinging the Arms while Inhaling. — Stand 
with the arms hanging at the sides. Clench the fists and 
tense all the muscles of the arms; slowly move the arms, 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 37 

like a pendulum, out forward one foot, and then back of 
the body one foot, taking three seconds for each move- 
ment. Repeat the movements five to ten times, distributing 
them over one inhalation and increasing their length and 
speed till the arms swing out and back as high as the 
shoulders. This develops the lungs and the interlacing 
muscles of the chest frame. The inhalation should be so 
regulated that the lungs will be full when five or ten slow 
swinging movements have been completed. 

Breath Control. 

The voice is no stronger than its breath supply. If 
the air is not held back in speaking, it will escape like 
steam blowing ofT all the time. The breath must never 
be let out as fast as it is taken in. The air column must 
be kept under steady and uniform control during the ex- 
citement of strong delivery as well as during the calmest 
moments. 

Exercise — Prolonging a Thin, Pure Tone. — Prolong 
the tone ah or oh for ten seconds or more in a smooth, 
even movement, first in thin, then in pure tone. 

The first step in voice culture is to obtain control of 
the thread of voice. This thread is a thin tone which can 
scarcely be heard. The ability to prolong a thin tone 
must be established by hard practice. 

The thin tone should be pure. When the efforts to 
form thin tones have succeeded, similar efforts should be 
made to make the thin tone pure. The tone should have 
no flaw^s. The ear should be trained to detect all impuri- 
ties in the tones. 

The thin, pure tone may be held even and full to the 
end for forty-five seconds. The secret in sustaining the 
tone lies in the control of the diaphragm. The diaphragm 



38 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

should be held down, and the chest frame should be held 
up. The line of the lower ribs should be held extended in 
the position of the fully expanded lungs even when much 
air has been expended. 

This exercise will establish breath control and build 
up a good voice. The same pitch, preferably a low one, 
should be used till the tone is perfected. In course of time 
the force may be increased. Lower pitches may be used 
twice as much as the higher. The throat should be open. 

Exercise — Counting Ten in One Exhalation. — Count 
from one to ten in one exhalation. Fill the lungs again 
and count from one to ten two times in succession and 
in one exhalation. Instead of saying ten the second time, 
say twenty to show that you have made twenty counts. 
Continue thus till you can by rapid counting reach three 
hundred by counting from one to ten thirty times on one 
exhalation. The figures will run in the following order: 
I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, lo; i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 20; i, 2, 
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 30, etc., all in one exhalation. 

This is a breath economy exercise for breath control 
by cumulative counting. It prevents waste of air in speak- 
ing by training the diaphragm to distribute the air eco- 
nomically. 

The counting should be very rapid. Every consonant 
and vowel should be uttered very distinctly. The voice 
should not be permitted to fall in pitch on any count, be- 
cause falling glides invite a breath. The diaphragm should 
be held under control. The whole chest frame, especially 
the region around the lowest ribs, should be kept ex- 
panded; if this secret of breath control is not used, the air 
will all escape in the very beginning. The beginning needs 
the most control. Aspiration should be avoided. The ex- 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 39 

ercise may be varied by the use of various degrees of pitch 
and force at different stages. Each effort should be fol- 
lowed by a full inhalation and a short rest. 

Articulate Speech. 

The development of pure tones should be accompanied 
by exercises in articulate speech. The most beautiful voice 
will be useless in speaking unless the words are intelligible. 

Good articulation, enunciation and pronunciation is 
essential to good speaking. Articulation is the process of 
forming syllables and separating them from another. This 
requires good consonant touch, or skill and force in form- 
ing consonants. The consonants cut off sounds, or vowels, 
into syllables. 

Enunciation is the process of distinguishing tones by 
giving each sound, whether it be a consonant or a vowel, 
its full value and action. 

Pronunciation in a strict sense is the process of mak- 
ing syllables emphatic by the use of accent, or stress. It 
may happen that the pronunciation is good when the enun- 
ciation is bad. 

Good consonant touch is worth more to a speaker 
than a good voice. Speakers should above all things take 
care in their daily conversation to form the consonants 
distinctly. The sounds of language are carried by the 
vowels, but the sense is carried by the consonants. Con- 
sonants alone make speech intelligible. A strong voice 
with weak consonants becomes an unintelligible roar; a 
weak voice with strong consonants will be heard and un- 
derstood. Although the speaker should as a rule put as 
much vowel sound and as much consonant touch as pos- 
sible into every word, no harm is done when the conso- 
nants are made more pronounced than the vowels. Speak- 



40 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

ers who use clear and distinct consonants usually make 
a strong impression on an audience. The firmness of great 
orators is usually reflected in their strong features and 
firm lips. Great orators have both a level head and a 
level mouth. 

Triple Consonants. 

Consonants are vocal touches which cut off sound into 
articulate speech. All consonants are made from three 
elementary consonant positions, or places of closure: the 
lips, the palate and the throat. 

The three elementary consonants are P, T, and K. 
The triple consonant changes required in forming them 
develop flexibility of the articulation muscles. All con- 
sonants should be perfected in their own articulation. 

Exercise — Ip, It, Ik. — Practice the following combi- 
nations of lip, palate and throat contacts: Ip, it, ik; ip, ik, 
it ; it, ik, ip ; it, ip, ik ; ik, it, ip ; ik, ip, it. 

In executing ip, the lips should be drawn together 
quickly and firmly with an action resembling that of a ma- 
chine for nipping wire. For it, the tip of the tongue should 
be pressed hard against the hard palate near the upper 
teeth. For the back tongue closure ik, the back of the 
tongue should rise and close the sound completely; this 
closure is more difficult than the lip closure. Ip, it, ik may 
be practiced anywhere with silent pantomime action. All 
consonants may similarly be executed with muscular 
touch alone. Such practice would quench the roaring 
habit in speaking. 

These three consonants are aspirate and their proper 
execution will serve to remove aspiration. They should 
be formed very slowly and firmly at first ; rapidity may be 
added when the execution has been perfected. All the air 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 41 

should be impinged in shutting off the sound. The aspira- 
tion of these aspirate consonants should be reduced to a 
minimum. 

Triple Vowels. 

Vowels are sounds which constitute the vocal part of 
syllables. The English language employs about fourteen 
vowel sounds. The mouth, however, forms them all from 
the elementary vowel openings ah, ee, 00, (as in the words 
far, feel, fool), which represent three positions of the 
mouth. Ah requires the most open, ee the closest flat, 00 
the closest round position of the mouth. Ah opens the 
mouth wide, and holds the lips very far apart; ee requires 
a flat mouth, in which the corners of the mouth are drawn 
and stretched back toward the cheeks; 00 forms a small 
and round opening of the mouth. Ah develops the power 
of projecting sounds to any place in the audience; 00 de- 
velops beauty in sound. 

Great care is required in forming the vowels. Cor- 
rect vowel sounds insure beautiful enunciation. 

Exercises in the triple vowel changes develop flexi- 
bility of vowel action by making the mouth flexible. 

Exercise. — Practice the following with a full action of 
the mouth: Ee, ah, 00; ee, 00, ah; ah, ee, 00; ah, 00, ee; 
00, ee, ah; 00, ah, ee. 

Difficult Words. 

To hammer consonants is worth more than all other 
voice exercises. Strength of articulate touch determines 
the value of any voice however strong it may be. 

Murdoch, a famous teacher of oratory, said the best 
single advice he could give for training the voice in speak- 
ing was to pay attention to the first and the last consonant 
in every syllable. 



42 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

The first and the last consonant of every syllable 
should be pronounced with unusual vigor, force and atten- 
tion. A powerful articulation, acquired by uttering the 
initial and final consonants with explosive energy, is 
ninety-five per cent of a successful voice. Beauty, volume 
and richness of voice are insignificant compared with the 
coining of consonants and the cutting of syllables. The 
lips should fall like a pile-driver falling on the end of a 
pile. Time spent in hammering consonants is not wasted. 
A few minutes of consonant work every day would yield 
surprising results. 

Some words may serve to illustrate Murdoch's rule. 
Say ''bond''; throw tremendous pressure into the lips on 
*'b" before allowing the sound to burst and explode into 
articulation; on "d", the tip of the tongue should fairly 
collide, with a recoil, against the roof of the mouth. In 
saying "not", explode the "n" and the ''t". In saying 
"first" make the "f" and the "t" strong enough to lift a 
ton. The voice should be like a machine cutting railroad 
iron; the lips, tongue and jaws should exert tremendous 
muscular strength in developing the propulsive force of 
syllables. 

Develop every consonant, syllable, and vowel in the 
following words; repeat each word many times. Other 
words can easily be found in alphabetical order. 

Attempts ; accepts ; and ; budge ; bafifl'd ; bends ; bursts ; 
business; cribb'd; crowd; craft; clue; calls; crept; citizens; 
drown; dreadful; drums; drifts; dev'ls; distinctness; ex- 
acts; elev'nth; every; excellent; eternity (not eternuty) ; 
fields; fresh; faults; fraud; fifths; faults; fruit; field; glory; 
glided; graft; grove; great; ghosts; government; gentle- 
men; heav'ns; it; lifts; lengths; literary; most; months; 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 43 

new (not noo) ; ov'ns; pledge; precepts; quit; rise; ribs; 
rifts; sobs; stifl'd; sifts; sects; scalps; shrill; shrunk; 
shrink (not srink) ; smattering; sprout; strong; shall; 
seventh; sudden; silence; twists; thrice; throb; tramp; 
thirsts; tough'n; use; veteran; whelm; yet; zephyr; zest. 

Words like these can be practiced anywhere with 
muscular action alone. The attempt to master a few words 
will revolutionize a whole vocabulary. Every new word 
should be assimilated by being used at the first opportu- 
nity. A vast improvement in speech will result. 

The greatest obstacle to good speaking, even among 
educated people, is careless conversation. A clattering 
tongue destroys all magnetism, exhausts the mind, causes 
nervous prostration and ruins enunciation. All gossips 
have dead, tiresome voices. No good can come from a 
scattered use of the voice. 

Hammering Syllables. 

Solid syllables are essential to magnetic speaking. 
Unimportant syllables should be passed over lightly; weak 
syllables should receive special attention; but no syllable 
should be executed in a weak manner. The weak 
syllables of words should be repeated correctly so many 
times that they will never again cause trouble. The syl- 
lables in strong sentences should be uttered with great 
strength. 

Syllable hammering cures defective articulation. In 
hammering syllables, the whole body should be tense and 
rigid, and every nerve and muscle should be energized. 

Exercise. — Tense the body, the arms and the fingers. 
Read or utter some strong sentence. As each syllable is 
uttered, the fist or the tips of the fingers of one hand should 
simultaneously strike a determined blow on a table or 



44 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

some other hard surface. This action co-ordinates all 
the faculties of voice production. 

This very old exercise is founded on the fact that 
the brain not only imparts its nervous impulse to the blow^ 
but also at the same time communicates its energy to the 
v^hole voice. The elbov^ action should coincide with the 
syllable. The blows make the voice solid, and untangle 
bad articulation. Each syllable or word should be pounded 
energetically. The more consonants there are in a word, 
the easier it will be to articulate the syllables. A stam- 
merer can not pound the finger tips upon a table faster 
than the larynx forms the sound; the fingers stammer 
when the brain cannot be carried into the syllables. 

Develop the syllables in the words in-di-vid-u- 
al-i-ty and pe-cul-iar-ly. Then develop the following sen- 
tences. 

''I will have my bond." 

*'On the earl's cheek the flush of rage o'ercame the 
ashen hue of age; fierce broke he forth: And dar'st thou 
then to beard the lion in his den, the Douglas in his hall? 
And hop'st thou hence unscathed to go? No, by Saint 
Bride of Bothwell, no !" 

Difficult Sentences. 

The muscles of the mouth are made flexible for rapid 
changes of consonant touch by practice in difficult conso- 
nant combinations. Flexibility is readiness of change. 

Difficult word combinations should first be repeated 
very slowly and with great muscular firmness. Firmness 
is strong muscular position. The lips, the tip and the back 
of the tongue should be strained with intense compressed 
muscular energy and pressure of touch. 

When firmness of consonant touch has been estab- 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 45 

lished by many repetitions, the words should be repeated 
with great rapidity. But not a single consonant or vowel 
should be blurred or obscured. Every syllable should have 
great propulsive force, and every word should be heard 
even when the thinnest voice is used. 

Difficult sentences should be noted and developed. 
The following illustrative combinations should first be 
practiced very slowly and firmly, and after that with great 
rapidity. 

Beef broth. 

A million menial minions. 

His beard descending swept his aged breast. 

She sells sea-shells. 

Strike till the last armed foe expires. 

Six thick thistle sticks. 

A citizen sentencing him. 

Throat Exercise. 

OH-OO Exercise. — Place three fingers, on top of 
each other, between the upper and the lower teeth for 
the purpose of separating them as much as possible; with- 
out removing the fingers from this position, say ''oh-oo" 
slowly, in a voluminous, orotund voice, for several minutes 
at a time. 

This exercise expands and contracts the back walls 
of the throat, and makes them very flexible. The increase 
in the length and the width of the mouth and of the cavity 
of the pharynx, accompanied by the raising of the soft 
palate, makes the voice voluminous, establishes the oro- 
tund timbre, throws the tones forward and determines the 
form of the voice. 

Volume is largeness in tone and depends simply upon 
the enlargement of the pharyngeal and oral cavity during 



46 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

tone production. Great volume of voice is instantly ac- 
quired by holding the mouth and the throat enlarged. Vol- 
ume of sound in the voice is called orotund timbre; this 
timbre is required in grand oratory. 

The great secret of placing the voice at v^ill at an}^ 
point in the audience lies in the back v^alls of the throat. 
When the back walls of the throat are used properly, they 
v^ill throw the voice forward. This is the opposite of 
mouthing, which holds the voice back in the mouth. 

The back walls of the throat also determine the form 
of the voice. When the tones are thrown forward against 
the teeth, the voice is bright and happy in form; when the 
tones are impinged or placed against the soft palate, the 
voice is dark and gloomy. 

Elements of Voice. 

Beauty and power of expression require not only a 
clearly enunciated but also a well modulated voice. Ex- 
pression should never be fixed and stereotyped. Vocal ex- 
pression will be monotonous unless there are lights and 
shadows in the voice. The various modulated combina- 
tions must blend as delicately as the shading in a beautiful 
steel engraving. 

Natural modulation is the blended variation of the six 
elements of the voice: time, pitch, force, stress, form, 
quality. A short description of these elements may serve 
to indicate vocal possibilities. 

Form is the brightness or darkness of tone by which 
the soul is represented in vocal expression. 

Time is the slowness or rapidity in speaking by which 
the importance attached to a thought is expressed. 

Pitch is the position of a tone in musical scale which 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 47 

represents vocal control. A low pitch gives force to com- 
manding tones. 

Force is loudness of voice; its seven degrees represent 
bodily energy. Very little force is necessary in ordering 
pork and cabbage for dinner; very much force must be used 
in addressing four thousand people. 

Quality is a musical combination of two or more 
timbres which represents the passions. 

Timbre is character in the voice. The timbres are to 
the voice what stops are to an organ; they change the 
character of the spoken tones. Timbres reflect the moods 
of the body. 

The timbres and the stresses of the voice are of such 
importance that they should be described more fully than 
the other elements. Additional details will be given in 
the chapter on individualities. 

There are ten timbres : pure, orotund, pectoral, gut- 
tural, laryngeal, oral, nasal, bell, falsetto, and whisper. 
The pure timbre is the beauty of the voice; it is called pure 
because it has no defects. The guttural timbre 'is throati- 
ness in tones produced by constricting, corrugating and 
hardening the throat; it is used to express hatred, anger 
and revenge. The pectoral timbre is a low sepulchral tone 
reverberating in the chest. The laryngeal timbre is a 
sickly tone common to sick and aged persons ; it is used in 
the portrayal of laziness, suffering and affectation. The 
falsetto timbre is a high fine tone which does not hurt the 
voice. Cats have falsetto voices. The nasal timbre ac- 
companies the expression of scorn. The oral timbre is 
resonance restricted to the mouth ; it is indicative of weak- 
ness, complaint and despondency. The orotund timbre is 



48 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

volume of voice v^hich depicts grandeur. The bell timbre 
stands for resonance; the whisper, for secrecy. 

Stress is as important in the voice as timbre. Stress 
may be defined as the relative force v^ith v^hich a sound, 
syllable or word is uttered. Stress is the main element in 
accent and in emphasis. Every voice should have some 
prevailing stress. 

There are eight stresses. The radical stress stands 
for precision; the median, for beauty; the thorough, for 
grandeur; the terminal, for surprise; the monotone, for 
quietude; the staccato, or cut-up monotone, for great pre- 
cision and exactness; the intermittent, for feeling; the 
compound, for mockery. 

Four stresses are used very much, in the following 
order of value : Radical, median, intermittent and thorough. 

The stresses are built upon vocal force and time- 
length. Stress gives every syllable or sound a beginning, 
a middle and an end. The radical stress places the maxi- 
mum of force at the opening or beginning of the sound 
and thereby makes utterance precise. The median stress 
swells the sound in the middle of each syllable; the sound 
begins weak, becomes strong and ends weak. The me- 
dian stress imparts beauty to the utterance; its combina- 
tion with the intermittent stress prevents dryness and lack 
of feeling in the voice. The terminal, or final, vanishing 
stress throws the maximum of force to the end of the 
syllable; it begins weak and ends strong. The thorough 
stress consists of a combination of the radical, median 
and terminal stresses. The compound stress combines the 
radical and the terminal stresses. The intermittent stress 
is a vibration, or trembling, in the sounds. The staccato 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 49 

stress cuts syllables very short. The monotone utters all 

syllables in the same tone. 

Stresses and emotional tone color, once acquired, 

never leave the voice. 

The following quotations may be used for practice : 
Radical : "I will have my bond." 
Median : "Oh the long and dreary winter." 
Intermittent: "Pity the sorrows of a poor old man." 
Thorough: "Loud surges lash the sounding shore." 
Terminal: "What, my old friend's ghost?" 
Compound: "My father's trade? Why, bless me, 

that's too bad." 

Staccato: "Let-me-think." 

Monotone: "The curfew tolls the knell of parting 

day." 



CHAPTER FIVE. 



DARK AND BRIGHT VOICE. 



The Dark Voice. 
Dark Form. 

Form is brightness or darkness of tone. The piano 
brightens or darkens its tones by the use of pedals. The 
human voice is dark when the sound column strikes the 
soft palate; it is bright when it strikes the hard palate. 
The tone column may be compared to a steel wire extend- 
ing from the lungs to the roof of the mouth; the bright- 
ness or darkness of the tones is determined by the point 
of contact at which the tones strike the palate. Tones are 
mufHed when the lips are partly closed, they are bright 
when the lips are drawn away from the edge of the teeth. 

The dark form is used in the portrayal of the serious 
side of life. Deep inward feeling requires a dark voice. 
The moral nature of man finds expression in dark tones. 
Ministers should habitually speak in a low pitch with a 
tinge of the dark form. Thinkers usually have low and 
dark voices. The dark form of voice is indispensable in 
all indoor speaking. A sermon may be ruined by being de- 
livered in a high pitch and a bright form. The dark side 
of the voice should be used when the voice is becoming 
hard. Dark tones usually require slow time. The dark 
form is an aid to the development of pure tones. 

The dark form is not perfect unless it has nervous 
solidity. The tones should resound in the chest. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 51 

The development of the dark feeling suggested by 
the words will lead to the gradual acquisition of the dark 
form in the voice. 

The objective speaker should master pitch, form and 
glides; other elements will regulate themselves to some 
extent. 

Progressions in form render the voice naturally re- 
sponsive to changing moods. A scale of form in the voice 
usually includes five stages: the extremely bright, the 
bright, the middle, or normal, the dark and the extremely 
dark form. The very bright tones impinge at the teeth; 
the very dark, at the soft palate. The dark form should 
be studied first. 

Dark Form Exercises. 

Exercise i, — Hold the tone oh in various pitches and 
in dark form. Impinge the tone column against the soft 
palate. 

Exercise 2. — Repeat the following sentences in low 
pitch and dark form. Change the feeling. 

"One sweetly solemn thought comes to me o'er and 
o'er." 

"The dripping rocks stand silent and alone. 

Like solemn ghosts of days that are no more." 

The low pitch expresses seriousness; the dark form 
expresses solemnity; the low pitch added to the dark form 
combines seriousness with solemnity. Clergymen should 
not merely lower the pitch when they wish to speak sol- 
emnly. The dark form should be used to express solemnity. 

Exercise 3. — Slide the tone oh or ah in dark form 
from the lowest to the highest pitch. The sound will 
resemble the moaning of the wind. 



52 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Extremely Dark Form. 

The extremely dark form may be called the midnight 
of the voice. The sound should be impinged against the 
lowest part of the soft palate. 

Exercise. — Repeat the following lines at first in a low 
register, without dark form, and then in a low pitch com- 
bined with dark form, and then in a low pitch com- 
bined with very dark form. The resonance should be 
strong and ringing. There should be no aspiration. 

"'Tis midnight's holy hour. 

"What a world of solemn thought their monody 
compels." 

Dark Intermittent Stress. 

The intermittent stress is a trembling vibration in 
the tones of the voice. In ordinary sound, the air vibrates 
in bulk, like a mass of gelatine in vibration; the sound 
waves ripple through the mass of air and thus reach and 
vibrate the ear-drum. The intermittent stress, however, 
is an additional ripple, or tremulo, added to, and running 
through, the moving sounds, the intermittent stress de- 
picts feeling, and may be called the thermometer of feeling 
in the voice. This stress should be made a second nature. 

The use of a natural intermittent stress together with 
the dark form is one of the most powerful aids in express- 
ing feeling. One of the secrets in the touching sermons 
of Moody was his subdued use of refined intermittent 
stress and dark form. 

The intermittent stress should be produced naturally 
by the trembling of the diaphragm, and not by the artificial 
vibration of the throat. Trembling tones are the result 
of feeling. The effort to produce a natural tremulo from 
the diaphragm develops true feeling. The artificial trem- 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 53 

ulo is without feeling. Affected speakers frequently use 
nothing but mechanical trembling tones. Singers and 
speakers should avoid the false tremulo of the throat. The 
begging voice of imposters is full of strong mechanical in- 
termittent stress. True feeling is not physical. 

Exercise i — Vibrating the Diaphragm in dark inter- 
mittent stress. Fill the lungs. Hold the tone oh in low 
pitch and dark form. During the tone, rapidly beat the 
line of the diaphragm with both hands in sufficient force to 
shake the diaphragm with strong vibrations. The tone 
will tremble in strong intermittent stress. The vibration 
will also strengthen the throat. 

The diaphragm should eventually vibrate without the 
aid of the hands. 

Exercise 2. — A strong intermittent stress in dark form 
depicts sorrow, and easily brings tears into the eyes. Prac- 
tice the following line in a high pitch with mental feeling 
and strong intermittent stress. 

"Pity the sorrows of a poor old man." — King Lear. 

Exercise 3. — Hold the tone oh in dark form and in- 
termittent stress. If this is done in a high pitch, the task 
will be very difficult. A high, dark, thin tone sounds like 
the moaning of the wind. 

Seriousness. 

The expression of seriousness requires either slow 
time or low pitch. A voice that is both low and slow has 
double seriousness. The dark form would add solemnity 
to seriousness. 

A low pitch and slow time are two valuable elements 
in controlling an audience. The combination of the low 
pitch and the dark form with the radical stress at once 
gives a teacher control over an unruly school, and insures 



54 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

success before any audience. The seriousness of low pitch 
and slow time demands attention and carries conviction 
with it. Ordinary seriousness may be either bright or 
dark in form. Excited seriousness would use a low pitch 
in fast time. Slow time counteracts humdrum speaking. 
Some speakers are not able to speak slowly because they 
are carried away by an irresistible rhythmical onbeat in 
the voice. The ability to make a thought doubly expres- 
sive by the use of low pitch and slow time is not easily 
acquired. 

Exercise. — The following sentences require slow time, 
low pitch and dark form. 

"Slow and deliberate as the parting tone.'* 

"Slowly and sadly we laid him down." 

Absolute Profundity. 

Absolute profundity is expressed either by a combi- 
nation of extremely low pitch and slow time or by a very 
dark form. 

Exercise. — The following quotation should be ren- 
dered in very dark form. 

"It is a solemn time, the sunset of the year." 

The following line is very slow and low. 

"A melancholy dirge o'er the dead year." 

The following is very slow, low and dark. 

"'Tis midnight's holy hour, and silence now is brood- 
ing, like a gentle spirit, o'er the still and pulseless world." 

The Bright Voice. 
Bright Form. 

Brightness is not loudness and force of tone. The 
voice can be brightened only by impinging the tones at 
the teeth. This may be slightly increased by withdraw- 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 55 

ing the lips from the edge of the teeth. The bright form 
is the secret of silver-tongued oratory. 

Cheerfulness of mind, the inseparable companion to 
vitahty of the body, is always reflected in the bright form 
of the voice. A happy bright voice, in its turn, produces 
a bright disposition. 

The thin tone is an aid in developing the bright form. 
The imperfections of the voice appear in the thin tones. 
The thin tone should be as clear, and should always carry 
as far, as the strong, loud tone. 

Exercise. — The following line should be repeated me- 
chanically in bright form, thin force, rapid time, high or 
low pitch and tones which sound like the bright musical 
humming of bees. 

"A lily lying all alone along the lane." 

The following lines should be repeated with mental 
and vocal brightness, in bright happy high tones. 

**The Rhine ! the Rhine ! our own imperial river, be 
glory on thy track." 

"The tide rolls up, the rippling sunny tide. The 
tossing waves throw diamonds to the sky." 

Extremely Bright Form. 

Excessive happiness and exuberant vitality employ 
an extremely bright form. The tones are very bright when 
the sound impinges against the edges of the teeth. The 
tones of a bell are very brilliant when they are struck 
near the edge of the bell. Exercises in the bright form will 
make a gloomy voice bright. 

Exercise. — The following line requires very bright 
form, and rapid time. The pitch may be either high or 
low; seriousness would require a low pitch. The bright 



56 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

intermittent stress, which depicts gladness and makes the 
sounds tremble, may be added. 

"My happy heart with rapture swells." 

Bright Pitch. 

The high pitch expresses excitement when it is used 
with the bright form; it expresses tenderness or excited 
sorrow when it is used in dark form. The high pitch pre- 
dominates in happiness and excitement. 

Exercise. — Repeat the following lines in high pitch, 
rapid time, bright form and intermittent stress. 

"Fm to be queen of the May, mother, I'm to be queen 
of the May !" 

Use high pitch, dark form, medium time and inter- 
mittent stress for the following. 

"The mother ere her time was carried forth, to sleep 
among the solitary hills." 

Bright Time. 

Rapid time, or rate of movement, depicts happiness, 
excitement and enthusiasm; it is usually bright in form. 
Excited people speak rapidly, in a high pitch and either 
bright or dark form. Rapidity in a low pitch is some- 
times used in the rendition of deep tragedy. 

Exercise. — The first of the following sentences re- 
quires rather fast time; the second, fast time; the third, 
very fast time and high pitch. 

"What a world of merriment their melody foretells." 
"Laugh, if you'd like to laugh 'till you're gray." 
"Pull for your lives. Pull till the blood starts from your 
nostrils and your veins stand like whipcords on your 
brow !" 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 57 

Bright Stress. 

The radical, or initial, stress gives precision to utter- 
ance and makes speech precise, energetic and forceful. 

In the radical stress, the maximum of force is at the 
beginning, or opening, of the sound uttered; every syllable, 
even the shortest, is opened with comparative force and 
ended v^ith comparative weakness. This stress makes 
every syllable a wedge of sound which tapers from a wide 
opening into a point. The radical stress makes the begin- 
ning of every sound emphatic without destroying the time- 
length of the syllables. When every syllable is clearly cut, 
there can be no mongrel conglomeration and running to- 
gether of syllables. The radical stress is the most im- 
pressive force in stamping the thoughts of a speaker upon 
his audience. When used to excess, it savors of arro- 
gance; but the absence of it makes the noblest sentiment 
appear insipid. "The right degree of this function," says 
James E. Murdoch, ''indicates the manly, self-possessed 
and impressive speaker. The argumentative speaker who 
has not this quality at command seems to strike with the 
flat rather than the edge of the oratorical weapon." 

The tremendous propulsive force of the radical stress 
increases the strength of consonants for power of articula- 
tion, gives character to speech, and with its magnetism 
arouses audiences to applause. Every consonant should 
be alive. The jaws should be constricted and tensed, as 
the arm is tensed for some mighty effort. A stiff, strong, 
flexible upper lip shows character in its iron cast of power. 
The upper lip should be sucked against the upper teeth, 
and should be held there if there is any danger of weak- 
ness in speech. Negroes do not articulate well because 
they have protruding lips. The corners of the mouth 



58 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

should be held down a little, and then be pulled taut; 
the center of the thickness of the lower lip should strike 
against the center of the upper lip. 

Many a speaker and teacher has gained wonderful and 
sudden control over others by adopting the radical stress 
together with a low pitch and the dark form. The firmness 
and precision of fact indicated by the radical stress makes 
speech invincible. The words move onward with the irre- 
sistible power of a flying wedge. 

The exercises given for the development of the 
mouth muscles all serve to establish the radical stress, and 
should be reviewed for that purpose. The explosive con- 
sonants P, T and K should be fully developed. The first 
and the last consonants of words and syllables should be 
carefully uttered. 

Exercises in Radical Stress. — Practice the following 
lines with intense radical stress in every syllable. 

"By bending it breaks." 

"As a Roman, here in your citadel, I defy you." 

"I will have my bond." 

"Up ! comrades, up ! in Rokeby's halls, 
Ne'er be it said our courage falls." 

Bright Throat. 

The vitality of the fully open throat is increased by 
raising the soft palate during a bright tremulo tone. 

The tremulo raises the soft palate. This secret of 
voice development may be observed by the aid of a mirror 
held before the mouth; the soft palate rises when the tone 
rises, and rises higher when the tremulo is added. This 
process brightens the voice, increases its volume and de- 
stroys orality. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 59 

Exercise. — Prolong the tone ah in bright form ; vibrate 
the tone by a trembling action of the diaphragm, and si- 
multaneously try to raise the soft palate higher. 

The same exercise in low pitch and dark form will 
establish the dark form and the intermittent stress. 

Bright Resonance. 

The greatest brilliancy of the voice is produced by 
the naturally bright bell timbre. The bell tones were 
used in a former exercise to destroy aspiration; here they 
are used for resonance. 

Resonance requires a large and free nasal chamber. 
This chamber is opened by closing the nostrils with the 
fingers and driving the breath into the head. 

The final consonant sound in the word bell should be 
held in the mouth and the head by closing the vocal aper- 
ture with the tip of the tongue held against the hard pal- 
ate. The tone should ring on after the first consonant has 
been uttered. The vibration should be carried upward 
into the head and thrown against the bridge of the nose. 
The vibration can be felt by the tips of the fingers placed 
on the bridge of the nose, the top of the head, the back of 
the neck, and the chest. 

Exercise in Bell Tones. — Utter the word bell, prolong 
the sound and permit it to die away like the diminishing 
vibrations of a bell. 

Four distinct bell tones should be developed. The 
first should be in the ninth, or highest; the second, in the 
sixth; the third, in the third; and the fourth, in the first, 
or lowest, pitch. 

The following lines from Poe's Bells may be used. 
For silver bells in the ninth pitch repeat : "To the tintin- 



6o VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

uabulation that so musically swells, from the bells, bells, 
bells, bells, bells, bells, etc." For golden bells in the sixth 
pitch use these lines: "How it tells of the rapture that 
impels to the swinging and the ringing of the bells, bells, 
etc." Brazen bells use the third pitch: "How the danger 
sinks and swells by the sinking and the swelling in the 
anger of the bells, bells, etc." Iron bells ring in the first 
or lowest pitch: "Keeping time, time, time, in a sort of 
Runic rhyme, to the tolling of the bells, bells, bells, etc." 

The voice has four resonant chambers: the head, the 
mouth, the throat and the chest. Perfect tones always 
involve the four resonance chambers together. The vibra- 
tion of the bell tones becomes stronger as the tones de- 
scend into the lower pitches. The imitation of the sound 
of brazen and iron bells in low pitches involves the whole 
chest. The golden and silver bells in high pitch involve 
the head and the mouth and at the same time reverberate 
in the chest. The whole body, from head to foot, may be 
made to vibrate. 

The bell resonance is a fine, healthy, exhilarating ex- 
ercise for the brain. All the fibres of the brain are vibrated 
through and through by the resonance. 

Voice work is finer and better exercise for the whole 
body than violent physical exercise. 

Clearing the Voice. 

Some speakers resort to mechanical aids in clearing 
the voice, such as eggs, sugar and egg-white, whiskey, 
lemons, oysters, red pepper, lozenges, beef tea, and, as a 
universal resort, simple water from the ubiquitous pitcher. 
Egg white, however, is good and water often is a necessity. 
The albumen of an egg is like the saliva of the mouth; 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 6i 

when it must be used, it should be held in the throat for a 
long time until it fills the throat with its chief element. 

Saliva is the only natural lubricant of the voice, and 
no other is needed when the voice is used properly; it 
keeps the throat in good condition. Hawking and spitting 
should be avoided. 

The voice is clarified by glottis strokes, glottis blows, 
glottis tones and glottis slides. The glottis is the cleft, 
or flexible opening, between the vocal cords at the upper 
orifice of the larynx; it may be called the mouth of the 
windpipe. This opening opens and contracts like the eye 
of a cat. The vocal cords enlarge or diminish the opening 
by opening or closing, lengthening or widening it under 
vocal air pressure. During an inhalation, the glottis is 
fully open; during an exhalation, it is half open; during a 
whisper, it is three quarters closed. When a boy's voice 
breaks, the cords touch each other. The clearness of the 
voice depends on the sharpness of the glottis lips. The 
glottis lips are the sharp edges of the vocal cords. When 
these edges are thick, inflamed and swollen, the voice is 
fringed and husky. Glottis exercises clarify the voice by 
sharpening the edges of the vocal cords. 

The glottis stroke is a light, quick and clear blow of 
sound which instantly shuts off the sound and the air in 
the larynx by an instantaneous contact of the glottis lips. 
The stroke makes the glottis edges fine and firm, and 
cures huskiness. The stroke is best when it is made with 
the least effort. Too much glottis work destroys volume, 
of voice. 

The glottis tone is the prolongation of a clear glottis 
stroke. 

The glottis blow is a very heavy glottis stroke. 



t2 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

The glottis slide simply slides a glottis tone up or 
down in pitch. 

Glottis Stroke Exercise. — Say ho, ho, ho, etc., in vari- 
ous pitches, without moving the lips. 

The sound must be as short as possible; the vocal 
cords should spring together and instantly cut off the 
sound. 

Laughter consists of a rapid succession of glottis 
strokes. Laughter therefore makes the voice clear, bright 
and sunny. 

Some learn the glottis stroke by saying hup, hup, hup 
as short as possible and then saying hu, hu, hu by the action 
of the vocal cords alone, without any lip closure. The 
sound of hu should be the same as in hup. 

The glottis stroke can be produced in the throat by 
holding a tone and striking the small of the back rapidly 
with the back of both hands. Every blow closes the cords 
and cuts off the tone into a short glottis stroke. 

Glottis Tone Exercise. — A number of glottis strokes 
should be executed until a clear and perfect stroke is found ; 
this clear stroke should be repeated and drawn out into 
a glottis tone. The clear tone beginning with a glottis 
stroke is the glottis tone. The tone will be as clear as 
the glottis stroke. 

Glottis Slide Exercise. — Glottis slides are glottis tones 
which are carried up or down, from the lowest to the high- 
est or from the highest to the lowest pitch. Preliminary 
glottis strokes provide clear glottis tones, which are to be 
raised and lowered in pitch by the glottis slide. The tones 
should be carried to the full range in the pitches of the 
voice. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 63 

The glottis stroke, tone and slide are great voice 
builders. 

A lost voice might perhaps be restored by a develop- 
ment of the art of breathing, blows struck against the 
small of the back during a tone, glottis strokes, glottis 
tones and slides, careful consonant practice and a proper 
use of the voice in conversation. 



CHAPTER SIX. 



STRENGTHENING THE VOICE. 



Vocal Power. 



The voice develops naturally by being used in the 
right way. 

Strong exercises do not injure the voice v^hen they 
are done properly. The work may be carried nearly to the 
limit of the voice, but the limit should never be reached. 
Depleted energy is followed by the reaction of increased 
power. Orators gain new strength after every exhausting 
effort. The whole soul should be thrown also into the 
physical development of the voice. Public work, however, 
should be well balanced. 

The more the voice is used vigorously in the proper 
way, the better it becomes. The speaker should be alive, 
and his voice should be on fire with intensity and vitality. 
This does not mean that the orator must say everything in 
a declaiming, calling and shouting voice. Calling is not 
speaking, and shouting does not improve the delivery. At 
times the delivery must be very quiet and intense; at other 
times, the speaker must exert tremendous controlled en- 
ergy. Sometimes every word must weigh a ton, not in 
sound, but in intense earnestness, and every syllable must 
be uttered with a solid hammer blow. But the voice should 
never be dead, and the delivery should never be weak. The 
trained voice alone will be able to meet all requirements. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 65 

The vocal cords are made powerful by the exercise of 
the various muscles in and around the larynx. 

Exercise i — Saying Roll or Blow. — Throw the head 
far to the right or the left with a quick movement, turning 
the chin toward the shoulder. This compels the larynx 
to jump downward in the throat. When the larynx is in 
this position, immediately after the turn, utter the word 
roll or blow with a full, heavy, low voice. This will create 
powerful vocal cords and also cure orality, or mouth reso- 
nance. 

Exercise 2 — Loud Counting. — Count from one to 
three hundred, in the strongest voice, with the lungs 
packed full all the time and the chest frame held rigidly 
expanded. Each count should let out only as much air 
as is required to support the heavy tone, and the lungs 
should immediately after each count be filled for the next 
count by an inaudible and quick inhalation through the 
nose. In other words : Fill the lungs, say one very loudly 
and solidly, using the least amount of air in the effort and 
keeping the lungs fully inflated; quickly take in through 
the nose as much air as had to be let out with the tone, and 
say two with the same force. The counting should con- 
tinue with the fullest force on the least amount of air until 
the voice is weary, otherwise there will not be much 
progress. 

This was Prof. Bell's greatest exercise for strength- 
ening the voice. It serves also as a cure for aspiration. 
The exercise develops an exceedingly strong voice in the 
shortest time. 

The great benefit of this exercise lies in the refilling 
of the lungs by a quick inhalation after each count; this 
holds the diaphragm under a steady strain. The breath 



66 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

will be quickly exhausted unless the lower parts of the 
lungs are kept inflated. There must be no leaking of air. 
Every consonant should be cut clearly; every vowel should 
have the right sound. The throat should be open. The 
counting should not be carried beyond normal limits, for 
the voice grows by assimilation and not by forced bloating. 

Exercise 3 — Counting One Seven Times with Increas- 
ing Force. — Count "one one, one, one, one, one, one," in- 
creasing the loudness on each count, without leaving the 
initial pitch. 

The force, or loudness, increases from the weakest 
to the strongest point in seven stages of progressive force 
without raising or lowering the voice in pitch. The in- 
crease of force should be even and gradual. The throat 
should open more and more as the force increases. The 
work should be followed by restful exercises in thin tones. 

The strength acquired by this exercise is not abso- 
lutely enduring. Progressive force strengthens the voice 
but does not increase its vitality. The development of 
force in the voice should be accompanied by the develop- 
ment of psychic energy. Increasing energy, will power 
and feeling should be combined with the increasing force. 

The progressive movements for strengthening the 
voice were invented by Prof. Murdoch. 

Exercise 4 — Speaking Forcibly on a Held Breath. — 
After holding the breath as long as possible, consume the 
remaining breath by repeaitng a long selection with ut- 
most vigor, strong tones, firm articulation and burning 
feeling. 

This great exercise was invented by Vandenhoff. 

The breath should at first be held only a few seconds ; 
the time may be gradually extended to seven, ten, twelve 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 67 

and more seconds. No more air should be permitted to 
escape from the lips than is absolutely necessary to speak 
the words vigorously. When the words are ended, the 
residue of air should be let out. The lines should not be 
shouted. 

Drudgery of the hardest kind is the only way of 
achieving great results. Haste in voice culture is a waste 
of time and efforts. No part of the required work should 
be neglected. 

The following selections may be used in speaking forc- 
ibly on a held breath. They may also be used simply to 
strengthen the voice. They require a strong voice. 

''On Atair ! On Rigal ! On Antares ! Good horse ! 
Oho ! Aldebaran." — Ben Hur urging his horses. 

"Rouse, ye Romans ! rouse, ye slaves ! Have ye brave 
sons? Look in the next fierce brawl to see them die. Have 
ye fair daughters? Look to see them live, torn from your 
arms, distained, dishonored, and if ye dare call for justice, 
be answered by the lash !" — Rienzi. 

''If I were an American as I am an Englishman, while 
a foreign troop remained within my shores, I would never 
lay down my arms, — never! never! never!!" — Lord Chat- 
ham. 

"Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inac- 
tion? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance 
by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive 
phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us 
hand and foot?" — Patrick Henry. 

Glottis Blow. 

The glottis blow requires the most powerful vocal 
action. Power and solidity of voice depend on the ability 
of the glottis lips to hold back a vigorous air column. 



68 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

The glottis blow requires abdominal contraction. 
This is an exception to deep breathing, which expands and 
contracts the whole waist line. Sudden explosive tones 
contract only the abdomen. The contraction of the abdo- 
men may be felt by placing one hand flat on the chest, the 
other on the abdomen, and saying the word "bold" in a 
loud voice ; the abdomen should contract on the word. 

Glottis Blow Exercise. — Utter a series of light glottis 
strokes, saying ho, ho, etc., till a clear stroke is found. Re- 
peat this clear glottis stroke with a blow, that is, with a 
powerful, voluminous voice say ho loud enough to be heard 
a mile. The sound should roll away in two or three sec- 
onds. The word "blow" can also be used. 

The blow should be as easily made as the lightest 
glottis stroke. All the air should be consumed by perfect 
vibration. There should be no irritation in the throat. 
The sound column should strike the hard palate, and not 
the throat. A strong voice should not tax the muscular 
or the nervous system. 

The glottis blow makes the voice strong very quickly. 

Modulation in Force. 

Modulation is expressive contrast in the tones of the 
voice. Modulation in force requires that the speaker 
should not address his audience in one uniform degree of 
force, or loudness. Monotony puts people to sleep. Strong 
tones alone are monotonous; but the effect is thrilling 
when tremendous force is subdued, controlled and varied 
with quiet tones. 

The voice should be made flexible by transitions in 
the use of force ranging from the strongest to the weakest 
degree. The degrees of force should be distributed pro- 
gressively. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 69 

Exercise — Seven Degrees of Force. — The following 
quotations cover seven progressive degrees of force. The 
pitch, however, should be the same in all the quotations. 
The first quotation is very weak in force; the fifth requires 
average force; the seventh should be given with great 
force. 

1. "The curfew tolls the knell of parting day." This 
is very weak in force. 

2. "Said he with his dying breath, life is done, but 
what is death?" This is weak. 

3. "Leaves have their time to fall and flowers to 
wither." This is rather weak. 

4. "Once in Persia ruled a king." 

5. "Answer me to what I ask you." This is rather 
strong. 

6. "Be ready, Gods, with all your thunderbolts, dash 
him to pieces." This is strong. 

7. "Rouse, ye Romans; rouse, ye slaves!" This is 
very strong. 

The fourth degree of loudness should be loud enough 
to reach a large audience. The fifth degree requires a 
strong, solid, extended chest. The sixth degree bursts out 
in heavy glottis blows. The seventh degree reaches the 
limit of strong force or loudness. The quotation requires 
a strong attitude with the fists clenched and one foot ad- 
vanced with a bent knee. The quotations should be ex- 
pressed with understanding and feeling. 

Vital Carriage. 

The chest, the vital organs, the head and the spinal 
column should be carried in an elevated position. A vital 
carriage of the whole body indicates strength. Orators 



70 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

usually straighten up when their soul is stirred by the fire 
of eloquence. 

An arched and immovable chest gives the body a com- 
manding and dignified appearance. The vital power of 
such a carriage communicates itself to the tones of the 
voice. 

The vital organs are the contents of the chest frame. 
These organs are lifted up by the forward carriage of the 
chest. This makes the waist narrower, the chest fuller, 
and increases the involuntary functions of the stomach, the 
heart and the lungs. Crowded vital organs interfere with 
the circulation of the blood, digestion and breathing. All 
well-shaped men and women should make a constant effort 
to keep the vital organs in their proper position. Abdomi- 
nal obesity especially should be counteracted by a con- 
scious effort to hold the abdomen in and the chest up. 

The chest should be carried forward and the vital 
organs should be held up in their highest position until 
this becomes an unconscious habit. 

,The head also should be held up. A drooping head 
is an indication of weakness or weariness. The vital car- 
riage of the head and of the chest is very important in per- 
fect walking. 

The spinal column should be straightened by raising 
the upper part of the torso. This will reduce curvature of 
the spine, cure round shoulders and straighten sprung 
knees. 

Food and Exercise. 

A lack of energy is often due to a lack of proper food 
and exercise. 

The two chief uses of food are: First, to form the 
materials of the body, and repair its wastes; and, second. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 71 

to yield (i) heat to keep the body warm and (2) muscu- 
lar and other power for the work it has to do. 

The latest investigations on the subject of diet show 
that because of the difference between individuals in re- 
spect to their demands for nutriment and the way in which 
their bodies can make use of different kinds of food, we 
shall never be able to lay down hard and fast rules to apply 
to all cases. 

Deep breathing and judicious dieting may be very 
helpful in subjugating the body. 

The same is true of physical culture. Different people 
need different kinds and degrees of exercise at different 
ages. It is, however, certain that a strong voice requires a 
strong body. Every muscle of the body should be devel- 
oped. A good physique is an immense advantage to a 
speaker. 

Heavy gymnastic exercises are probably not as bene- 
ficial as free movement exercises; and ordinary physical 
culture is not as beneficial as walking, swimming and other 
outdoor exercises. 



CHAPTER SEVEN. 



FLEXIBILITY OF VOICE IN PITCH. 



Progressive Pitches. 

A flexible voice responds naturally to all the require- 
ments of stress, form, pitch, time, force and quality. Pitch 
modulation requires the use of various pitches in speaking. 
Exercises in pitch modulation increase the range and flex- 
ibility of the voice. 

Every voice has a normal, or central, pitch, from which 
it modulates the other pitches. The other pitches should 
be blended with this pitch by the use of harmonious varia- 
tions in pitch. 

The voice is made flexible in pitch by exercises in pro- 
gressive pitches. 

Exercise i — Counting One to Nine in Nine Pitches. — 
Count from one to nine in a musical scale, beginning with 
the lowest note of your voice and ending in the highest. 
Reverse this and count from the highest to the lowest 
pitch. Hold the throat open. Do not sing the words. 

The fifth pitch is the middle of the scale. The fourth 
pitch should be the ordinary starting point in public speak- 
ing. One is the lowest note. 

The same result can be produced by prolonging a tone 
in each of the nine pitches. 

Exercise 2. — Repeat the following sentence nine times, 
each time on a higher pitch, and see to it that the voice 
ascends from the lowest to the highest pitch while main- 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. n 

taining only one pitch on each line. Reverse the exercise 
by beginning on the highest and descending to the lowest 
pitch. Or begin in the middle pitch and descend to the 
lowest pitch before rising upward in pitch. Do not sing 
the words. 

All are scattered now and fled. 

Exercise 3. — Practice the following nine sentences in 
nine pitches. Get a mental picture of the scene suggested 
by each line and color the voice with the necessary feeling. 
The eyes, the face, the mouth and the tones of the voice 
should be alive with dramatic interest. Various actions 
and attitudes should be used. Every word should be enun- 
ciated precisely. Avoid a singing monotone. 

The exercise is given for the purpose of making the 
voice flexible in pitch. Begin with the fifth quotation, 
which requires a normal pitch; then utter the fourth quo- 
tation in a lower pitch; continue downward to the lowest 
pitch; then proceed upward through all the pitches till 
the highest pitch in your voice is reached in the ninth 
quotation. 

9. I repeat it, sir, let it come, let it come. 

8. Three millions of people armed in the holy cause 
of liberty. 

7. The sounding aisles of the dim woods rang. 

6. With music I come from my balmy home. 

5. A vision of beauty appeared on the clouds. 

4. Friends, Romans, countrymen. 

3. And this is in the night, most glorious night. 

2. Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll. 

I. Eternity, thou pleasing, dreadful thought. 

Exercise 4 — Climax in Pitch. — The voice should grad- 
ually rise from the lowest to the highest pitch in the fol- 
lowing selection from Macbeth. 



74 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

A climax in force, or loudness, may be combined with 
the climax in pitch ; the voice should, in that case, gradually 
increase from the weakest to the strongest loudness while 
at the same time rising from the lowest to the highest 
pitch. Each climax should be developed separately. 

The climax in both cases is reached on the word 
"sicken"; after that the voice falls in seven steps to the 
lowest pitch and force. 

The difficulty of the work may be increased by doing 
all this in one breath. 

"Though you untie the winds, and let them fight 
against the churches; though the yeasty waves confound 
and swallow navigation up ; though bladed corn be lodg'd, 
and trees blow down; though castles topple on their 
warders' heads; though palaces and pyramids do slope 
their heads to their foundations; though the treasure of 
Nature's germens tumble all together, even till destruction 
sicken, answer me to what I ask you !" — Macbeth. 

Exercise 5. — Hold the tones oh, ah, ee, 00 either in 
the highest or the lowest pitch of the voice. Repeat this 
many times in succession. The sympathy of the vibrations 
will develop the adjoining pitches of the voice and rapidly 
increase the vocal range. 

The voice should be forced downward by practicing 
the lower notes twice as much as the higher. 

Exercise 6. — An extremely low pitch is used to depict 
profundity. The following words of Hamlet require a 
slow, low, bright monotonous voice. 

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in 
this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of re- 
corded time." 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 75 

Slides. 

A mechanical slide in the voice is a long upward or 
downward movement in pitch; a glide is a quick, short 
slide action on a single syllable or word. A glide may be 
the same as a slide in range, but it is shorter in time length. 
Slides are used as purely mechanical exercises to make the 
voice flexible; glides are used for expressive modulation in 
speaking. 

The momentum of the slide action carries tones be- 
yond their ordinary range into a higher or a lower pitch 
which the tones would otherwise not reach. 

Exercise i — Rising Slide. — Begin in the lowest pitch 
and slide the tone oh or ah upward smoothly, without any 
breaking or wavering, until the highest pitch is reached. 

Exercise 2— Falling Slide. — Begin in the highest pitch 
and gradually slide the voice, in a prolonged singing tone, 
to the lowest pitch. This slide should be practiced very 
much because it deepens the voice. 

Exercise 3 — Double Slide, Rising and Falling. — Slide 
the voice in one breath from the lowest to the highest and 
from the highest to the lowest pitch. The double slides 
tax the capacity of the voice. 

Exercise 4 — Double Slide, Falling and Rising. — Slide 
the tone from the highest to the lowest and from the low- 
est to the highest pitch in one unbroken movement. 

Exercise 5— Swelling Slides. — Prolong the tones ah or 
oh either in the rising or in the falling slide, and increase 
the force or loudness, with the slide. 

This swelling gives the tones a double momentum of 
slide and increasing force which rapidly develops the 
strength of the upper and the lower registers. The slides 
develop the pitch of the voice ; the increasing force makes 



76 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

the extremities of pitch strong. Weak spots may easily 
be detected during the swelling of a tone. 

The slides are sometimes used in modulation when 
long upward or downward slides must be thrown into the 
voice for dramatic effect. 

Glides. 

Glides are short, rapid slides used in giving meaning 
to words and syllables. A glide may be as long as a slide 
in range and time, yet it is a glide as long as the movement 
conveys meaning. The mentality of the voice depends on 
the glides. The longer the glides, the more developed the 
meaning. Audiences are more interested in the glides of 
the voice than in the voice itself. Glides are the most 
valuable element of intellectuality in the voice. 

Good speaking requires changes of pitch in the em- 
phatic words and syllables. Every accented word or syl- 
lable should have some rising or falling glide action. A 
glideless voice is a monotonous singsong in its tones. 
Singing is distinguished from speaking principally by a 
glideless use of syllables. A slur in singing is like a glide 
action in speaking. Pulpit tones which are due to a lack 
of glides must be broken up by glide work. 

A change of glides changes the meaning of words 
according to the glides that are used. A member of parHa- 
ment apologized thus: "I called Mr. N. a liar; it is true, 
and I am sorry for it." Much depends on the glides in 
the following: "The man would have died if you hadn't 
cut his arm ofiF." 

Glides were formerly called inflections. An inflection, 
however, is really a double glide, or turn, in the voice. A 
glide is a straight action. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 77 

There are four elementary glides: rising high, falling 
high, rising low and falling low. 

Rising Glide in the High Register. 

Rising high glides express indecision, hesitation, 
doubt, surprise, inquiry and the like. The rising high 
glide is the weak character glide in the voice, and is used 
by persons who have no strength of will or character. 
Sweet characters also use rising gHdes in the upper pitches 
of the voice. Love tones are never decisive but express 
a quietude that betrays doubt and hesitation. 

It is sometimes said that all questions should end with 
a rising glide. All questions may, however, just as well 
take a falling glide. The glide in questions is determined 
by the character of the speaker. Self-asserting characters 
question in falling glides, doubting characters use rising 
glides. An experienced lawyer asks questions with falling 
glides ; a young, inexperienced lawyer uses rising glides. 

Exercise. — Slide the tone ah, etc., from the middle 
pitch to the highest pitch. 

The following line from Dickens requires a high pitch 
with an upward glide on each syllable. 

"Martha not coming?" 

Falling Glide in the High Register. 

Impatience and sharpness, both in assertion and em- 
phasis, employ falling high register glides. Falling glides 
are characteristic of a controlling mind; rising glides be- 
tray a weak and subdued temperament. Scolding voices 
use high and falling glides. The lower part of the falling 
high glide means enthusiasm. We shout hurrah with a 
falling high glide. 



78 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Exercise. — Slide the tone ah from the highest pitch to 
the middle pitch. 

Hamlet uses a high pitch and a falling glide on every 
syllable in saying, "Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace !" 

Rising Glide in the Low Register. 

The rising low glide expresses gravity of inquiry, 
mildness and tenderness. The lov^ pitch is serious. 

A grave and mild man says ''good morning" v^ith a ris- 
ing low glide. 

Exercise. — Slide the tone ah from the lowest pitch to 
the middle pitch. 

The grave question, "Would you rather Caesar live?" 
should be expressed in a low voice and rising glides. 

Falling Glide in the Lrow Register. 

The falling low glide expresses command, decision 
and emphatic conclusion. Supremacy and decision in 
character are marked by falling glides and a low pitch. 
Falling glides are demandatory in character. Falling 
glides should be developed from a low starting point; as 
a rule, the falling glide is not commenced low enough. 

The word defied takes this glide in the words : "Thou 
art defied." It is indispensable in the following: "Roll on, 
thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll." 

Exercise i. — Slide the tone ah from the middle pitch 
to the lowest pitch. 

Exercise 2. — Count from one to ten in one pitch using 
the rising high, the falling high, the rising low and the 
falling low glides. 

Double glides use two glides in one movement. The 
double rising high glide rises and falls in the high pitch. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 79 

the double falling high pitch falls and rises in the high 
pitch, etc. 

Modulation in Pitch. 

No consecutive word or syllable should be spoken in 
the same pitch unless monotonous effect is desired. Change 
of pitch by the use of glides makes the voice musical. 

Exercise. — Practice the following quotation from 
Othello in the indicated pitches and glide movements. 

*'Do(i) deeds(2) to(3) make(4) heaven(6-2) weep, 
all(5) earth amazed(8-4), but noth-(9) ing(8) canst thou 
to damnation add greater than this." 

The figures represent the pitch of the word after 
which they stand. One is the lowest, and nine is the high- 
est pitch. Where two figures are given together, the sec- 
ond represents a glide. There are four glides : one repre- 
sents the rising high, two the falling high, three the rising 
low and four the falling low glide. The figures 6-2 indi- 
cate that the word heaven is in the sixth pitch and the 
falling high glide. The last eight words of the selection 
fall in pitch, with emphasis on the word greater. 

Preparatory Pitch. 

Sentences have word-groups; the groups have 
thought-words, or thought centres which carry the 
thought; the thought-words have emphatic syllables. The 
thought-word should stand alone in a pitch opposite to 
that of the other words. If the thought-word is in a high 
pitch, the preceding words should be in a lower pitch. 

According to the rule invented by Prof. Bell, modula- 
tion in pitch requires that all syllables preceding the 
thought-word of the group shall be spoken in a pitch op- 
posite to, and away from, the pitch of the thought-word. 



8o VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

This rule may be illustrated by the question, "How do 
you do?" If the last word is made the thought-word, then 
the preceding words must be spoken in an opposite pitch. 
If the last word is given in the number four falling low 
glide, then the preceding words should be uttered in a high 
pitch. If the last word takes the rising low glide, then 
the preceding words take a falHng high preparatory pitch. 
Each of these four words may be given in the four glides 
with the other words in a preparatory pitch. The sixteen 
movements possible in this one sentence would serve to 
establish natural modulation. The following rule should 
be applied at the same time. 

Progression in Pitch. 

"All syllables following the thought-word," says Prof. 
Bell, "should progress in the direction inaugurated by the 
pitch of the thought-word." 

This may be illustrated in the sentence, "Laziness 
grows on people." "Grows" is the thought-word, and 
takes the falling high glide ; the following words "on peo- 
ple" should continue in the falling high pitch direction. 
The preceding word "laziness" obeys the law of prepara- 
tory pitch, and must begin low. 

The rules applies both to words and syllables. What 
is true of the thought-word is true of the emphatic sylla- 
bles in words. The first syllable in "laziness" is emphatic; 
the following syllables in the word should therefore follow 
the pitch of the thought syllable ; preceding syllables would 
take an opposite pitch. The rule applies also to double 
glides. 

The glides assist the mind to catch the meaning 
thrown into a word or syllable. Audiences laugh when 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 8i 

double glides throw a double meaning- into a word. Double 
glides either rise and fall or fall and rise in pitch on one 
note. The two parts of the glide may not have the same 
pitch length; the glide may rise one third of the length of 
the pitches, and then fall two thirds, etc. The time length 
also may be unequal in the two parts of the tone. The 
voice naturally executes all kinds of glides without con- 
scious effort. Deliberate glide work makes the voice 
flexible. 

The charm in speaking and action lies not in the large 
movements, but in the small details. Audiences closely 
watch the fine points, such as a glide in the voice, a glance 
of the eye and a movement of the hand. 

The voice is musical when the words are rendered in 
musical proportions. Children are guided by their feel- 
ings; up to the sixth year their voices are full of musical 
glides. Boys, however, use no length in glides. 

The naturally flexible voice does not follow any fixed 
notes, but is guided by the ear and the general effect ; the 
modulation shifts naturally and correctly with the feelings. 



CHAPTER EIGHT. 



BEAUTIFYING THE VOICE. 



The Pure Timbre. 

Timbre is character in the voice. This character changes 
with the timbres. The timbres are to the voice what stops are 
to the tones of the organ. 

The voice should be made flexible also by exercise in tim- 
bre transitions. 

The pure timbre expresses beauty in the voice. This tim- 
bre is called pure because it is free from defects. The pure 
timbre can be established almost in an instant by the simple 
opening of the throat. When force, or loudness, is added to 
the tone, and a low pitch is used, the pure timbre becomes the 
orotund timbre. The pure timbre is not at home in the lower 
pitches ; the orotund timbre is not at home in the higherl 
pitches. Heavy tones prefer a low pitch. 

Exercise. — Repeat the following lines in pure timbre, 
bright form, medium pitch and force. 

"One by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, blossom 
the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.'' 

"Look how the floor of heaven is thick inlaid with patines 
of bright gold.'* 

Beautiful Vowels. 

The speaker should carefully distinguish the different 
vowel sounds. This is very difficult. The vowel sound Er, 
for instance, may be written in all five vowels, as the following 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 83 

words prove : toward, her, bird, word, absurd. There is a dif- 
ference in the vowels of such words as on and lawn, ere and] 
air, ought and nought, no and o'er. 

Prof. Bell, the inventor of the system of visible speech, 
and father of the inventor of the telephone, invented a vowel 
scheme in which he gave each vowel a fixed number. The 
scheme presents the vowel sounds in the order of their action 
according to the position of the lips ; five vowels are flat, four 
are open and three are round. 

One stands for E, as in meet and we; 2 is I as in mit and 
stick ; 3 is A as in mate and late ; 4 is E as in met and red ; 5 
is A as in mat and hat ; 6 is A as in mast and ask ; 7 is A as 
in mar and far ; 8 is ER as in her and sir ; 9 is U as in up and 
cup; 10 is O as in not and on; 11 is O as in ore and core; 
12 is O as in old and oh; 13 is 00 as in book and stood; 
14 is 00 as in boot and pool; 7-1 is the diphthong I as in 
mite, which consists of the vowels 7 and i ; 102 is the diph- 
thong 01 as in oil; 7-14 is the diphthong OU as in out; 15 is 
long U as in muse. 

The sounds should be remembered by the key-words meet, 
mxit, mate, met, mat, mast, mar, her, up, not, ore, old, book, 
boot, mite, oil, out and muse. 

The effort to number the vowels of words according to 
this vowel scheme will compel the mind to find the correct 
vowel sound. 

The voice should not be permitted to deceive the ear as 
to the true vowel sound. Speakers should not be driven to 
evade certain words because they cannot pronounce them 
properly. 

The short E needs special attention. Do not say govern- 
munt for government, citizuns for citizens, etc. 



84 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Beautiful Consonants. 

Some consonants are beautiful, some are plain and some 
are rough. Liquid consonants in such words as moan, mourn, 
lily and learn are very pleasing to the ear. Plain consonants 
in such words as good and bad are of medium value in musical 
speech. The rough consonants in such words as take, sect, 
car and catch need much polishing. 

Beautiful consonants serve to make the voice beautiful. 
The liquid semi-vowels L, M, N, R, W and Y are especially 
useful. L is the only liquid consonant that can be prolonged 
in tone. W is composed of the two vowel sounds OO and 
AH. 

Exercise. — Practice the following lines in a thin, pure, 
bright and very rapid tone. Repeat the lines many times. 

A lily lying all alone along the lane. 

Many men. 

Beautiful Stress. 

The median stress represents beauty in stress. This stress 
is produced and developed by swelling and increasing the 
force, or loudness, on the middle of a syllable. The tone 
should slightly swell and diminish, with a maximum of force 
on the middle of the syllables. The swelling notes of music 
are most pleasing and thrilling. The median stress is the 
foundation of a silvery voice. Speakers who use mechanical 
tremulo tones in speaking should abandon this habit and use 
the median stress in its stead. 

The median stress and the pure timbre may be acquired 
naturally by repeating selections which contain beautiful 
thoughts and sounds till their spirit is reflected in the tones of 
the voice. All the vowels should be practiced in the median 
stress. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 85 

The nervous system must be kept in a strong tension dur- 
ing the development of the median stress. Without the ten- 
sion of nervous interest, the stress and the expression will be 
lifeless. Lack of interest in the use of the voice destroys 
stress. Mechanical speaking is uninteresting. The speaker 
must be alive to his thoughts and show interest in his work. 
A solid chest and full lungs should accompany the voice as it 
plays in its various elements. 

Exercise i.^ — Use the median stress in the following 
quotation. Swell and diminish the tone in oh, long, dreary, 
etc. 

"Oh, the long and dreary Winter ! 
Oh, the cold and cruel Winter!" 

Exercise 2. — Use the median stress and the dark form 
in the following line: 

"O ever moaning river." 

"O stern impassive river." 

Exercise 3. — The median stress and the pure timbre 
form a beautiful combination in Bible and hymn reading. In 
the following lines, the voice should swell on Lord, shepherd, 
Jesus and Lover. The whole body should be solidly tense, 
and the lungs should be filled to the utmost. A flood of mean- 
ing and feeling should be thrown into the words : 

"The Lord is my shepherd " 

"Jesus, Lover of my soul . . . . " 

Exercise 4 — Swelled and Diminished Bell Tone. — 
The median stress in speaking can be developed by swelling 
and diminishing clear tones. The mere holding of a pure tone 
makes the voice grow rapidly in strength. The swell and di- 
minish of a thin pure tone, however, increases the volume, 
purity and resonance of the tone to such a degree that it has 
a wonderful effect upon the voice. The exercise may also be 



86 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

practiced to establish beauty of vocal resonance. Exercises in 
bell tones, which are simply clear and ringing tones, will be 
found in the section on bright resonance. 

First develop a thin bell tone ; then prolong the thin tone 
in pure timbre ; finally swell and diminish this thin, pure tone. 
The tone should begin weak, gradually swell in loudness and 
volume in the middle, and then die out. The tone may be 
swelled with great force and volume. The tones ah, oh, ee 
and oo may be used in various pitches. 

Many hours should be spent in practicing the swell and 
diminish. The physical and nervous impetus derived from the 
work will remain even when the voice is not used for a long 
time. 

Enriching the Voice. 

The voice is enriched by a combination of the median 
stress, the dark form and the pure timbre. These elements 
should be perfected separately ; each of them alone would take 
roughness out of the voice. 

Exercise i — Pure Tone. — Hold the tone ah as purely 
as possible. The pure tone is the natural basis of vocal work. 
Keep the mind on the tone and endeavor to detect any rough- 
ness. The tone should be tested in every pitch and force till 
it is certain that it is resonant and pure and does not contain! 
any aspiration, nasality and throatiness. 

Exercise 2 — Median Stress. — Prolong the tone oh and 
swell it in the middle. The strength of a pure voice is no| 
greater than the ability to swell the tones. 

Exercise 3 — Dark Form. — Hold the tone ah in the 
middle, dark form, which is not entirely dark. The sound 
column must impinge against the soft palate. The dark form 
is always rich, but it does not travel very far. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 87 

Exercise 4. — Hold the tone oh in pure tone, median 
stress and dark form. Swelling tones in dark form and pure 
timbre rapidly enrich the voice. 

Sweetness of Voice. 

The voice is sweetened by diminishing the force of a ris- 
in;j pitch. The force should decrease in proportion as the voice 
rises in pitch. The rising pitch indicates interest, enthusiasm 
and excitement ; the diminishing force shows depth of feeling. 
This is a golden realm of the voice. 

The tender caressing tones of the voice naturally move up- 
ward in pitch, naturally diminish in force, and naturally are 
tinged with the laryngeal, or throat, timbre. Sweet characters 
never use force in a high pitch. Scolding women use force in 
high pitch. Growling men simply vary the pitch. The woman 
who is heard speaking to a child in a high pitch and loud force 
is not the mother ; the mother would speak in high pitch andl 
diminishing force of tone. 

The sweet notes of birds begin with the highest pitch in 
diminishing force. The word sweet may be used in develop- 
ing bird notes. Men's voices are too low for bird notes. 

In uttering the word sweet with sweetness, the voice 
should use a rising pitch, and the force of the tone should di- 
minish into a minimum. 

The words "come here" are sweet when they are spoken 
in a rising pitch and a diminishing force; they are scolding 
sounds when they are said in a rising pitch and an increasing 
force. 

Beautiful Voice. 

The voice is complete and beautiful in all its parts when 
it simaltaneously intones in the head, rings in the mouth, vi- 



88 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

brates in the throat and reverberates in the chest. The perfect 
voice combines these four resonances. 

The voice is like a four-sided house ; if one side is miss- 
ing, the house is incomplete. The voice which vibrates only 
in the throat is metallic ; sounds confined to the mouth are oral ; 
resonance in the chest alone is flat. The voice should use all 
its parts together. 

The four great resonances should be established separate- 
ly before they are combined. 

Resonance in the head register may be acquired by prac- 
tice on words containing liquid consonants, such as "Rome.'* 
Resonance in the mouth may be developed by repeating the 
bell tones contained in the word bell. Vibration in the throat 
depends on the use of the intermittent stress, which adds 
trembling vibrations to the tones. Chest resonance may be 
quickly developed by exercises on the word roll in a low regis- 
ter. 

The chest cavity is the seat of heavy vocal resonance. The 
larger the chest cavity, the better the resonance. A large chest 
is indicative of great vitality. The reverberation of sounds in 
the chest increases the health of the cells of the lungs and is a 
better exercise for them than beating and pounding, which pre- 
vent an elastic return of the cells. Chest reverberation is the 
finest thing in the voice. 

Closed intonations, made by closing the mouth and open- 
ing the throat during tone production, perfect the tones of the 
voice. The pure timbre should be used. The correct position 
for closed intonations requires closed lips and a large oral cav- 
ity. The tone should be held as a humming sound. The head 
register requires a high pitch; the throat register, a middle 
pitch ; the chest register, a low pitch. The sound E is the key 
vowel of the head register for pitches nine, eight and seven. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 89 

Oh is the key vowel for the middle register in pitches six, five 
and four. Ah is the key vowel for the low pitches three, two 
and one. 

Exercise i. — Slide a tone downward through the nine 
pitches in the key vowels E, Ah and Oh, following each other 
in one unbroken tone ; change from one to the other as thd 
voice passes through the pitches. The sound will consist of 
the tone E-Ah-Oh. 

Exercise 2 — Fourfold Resonance. — Prolong the word 
roll as a tone vibrating in the chest, throat, mouth and head. 
The word is easily prolonged in a low register, but here it 
should involve four registers. 

The word roll should first be uttered in the bell tone for 
mouth resonance. After the tone has been formed in the 
mouth resonance, it should be diverted to the head by closing 
the inner part of the mouth with the tip of the tongue. The 
throat resonance is added to the tone by opening the throat 
wide, as in yawning, and vibrating the tone with an intermit- 
tent tremulo movement. Finally, while the tone is being sus- 
tained in the mouth, head and throat, the resonance should be 
carried down into the chest. The tone will then vibrate in four 
resonances at the same time. The whole body will feel the 
vibration. 

If this is too difBcult, the tone may be slid from the head 
to the chest in one movement ; but the low chest tone should- 
carry the full resonance of all the parts. 

A fifth point is sometimes added. It is possible to some 
voices to carry the chest resonance in the head register, that 
is, to vibrate the tone in a high pitch as much as when it is in 
the chest. The secret of chest reverberation in a high pitch 
lies in keeping the chest frame extended. 



90 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

This exercise combines the head vibration which was de- 
veloped by the word Rome, the bell tones of the mouth, the in- 
termittent stress of the throat, and the chest register which was 
established by exercises on the word roll. 

Exercise 3. — The complete perfect voice may be tested 
by vibrating the tone "awe.'' The tone should reverberate in 
the chest in such a manner that the head, the mouth and the. 
throat resonances are included in the reverberation. The vi- 
bration in the chest is much stronger than the vibration of the; 
other parts. 

The vibration of the voice may be felt on the nose bone 
between the eyes, on the top of the head and on the back of the 
neck. The nose bone should vibrate not only when the tone 
is in the head, but also when it has gone into the chest. The 
high register should not leave the chest support, and the low 
register should not be without the intonation in the head. 

The bones which are vibrated by the voice are like the 
woodwork of a violin, the sounding board of a piano, the 
heavy sides of a harp, or the enormous sounding board and 
resonant chamber of the bass viol. In bright tones, the voice 
impinges at the upper front teeth. Dark tones impinge at the 
soft palate. i 

Both the bright and the dark tones should be used in these 
exercises. 



CHAPTER NINE. 



POWER. 



Calmness of Voice. 

Calmness is a powerful aid in speaking. A calm voice 
uses a combination of the middle pitch and the middle time. 
An uncontrolled voice raises the pitch and increases the time. 
Excitement always betrays itself by a high pitch and rapid 
time. 

It is very difficult to speak with calmness before an audi- 
ence. Unusual efforts disconcert the voice. Men who were 
taught to declaim and recite have an uncontrollable tendency 
to declaim, recite and call out everything that they have to say 
publicly. The great fault of actors is that they declaim the 
commonplaces of life. Speakers should overcome the reciting 
voice. 

Calmness, however, does not exclude feeling in the voice. 
There are times when the voice and the action cannot be calm. 
Balance is essential to every kind of good vocal work. Calm- 
ness must be used only when it is an aid to expression. 

Dignity and Moral Grandeur in Voice. 

The middle degree of the dark form, which is half dark, 
expresses dignity and moral grandeur. 

Orators must choose between the bright and the dark 
voice. The bright voice is best for open air speaking ; the dark 
voice is best for indoor work. Orators who must do much 
outdoor work should have a hard, solid, heavy, orotund voice 



92 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

which will not only serve to do the hardest work, but will never 
wear out. Such a voice should hold the throat open and use a 
modulated low bright register. Clergymen should use a 
slightly darkened voice and subdued tones. 

Exercise. — The following should be rendered with full 
vowels in a dignified darkened voice. 

"And then might he ascend unhindered to the bosom of 
his Father and his God." 

Grandeur in Timbre. 

The orotund timbre depicts grandeur in the voice. This 
timbre combines the largest volume, the deepest resonance and 
the fullest thorough stress. This timbre alone can reach the 
strongest degree of force. It is usually together with the thor- 
ough stress ; if these two are exaggerated, they will develop a 
bombastic style. The orotund timbre itself is not bombastic 
and ostentatious. 

The orotund timbre may be produced by raising the uvula, 
lowering the larynx and throwing the corner of the throat out 
to such an extent that the whole mouth, except the lips, is in a 
large yawning position. 

The orotund timbre is also established by swelling and di- 
minishing a pure tone. 

Exercise i. — Repeat the following three quotations in 
the orotund timbre, a low pitch and the loudest degree of force. 
The chest frame should swell with the feeling of grandeur. 

''Together! shouts Niagara his thunder-toned decree." 

*'l am the Emperor." 

''Every inch a king." 

Exercise 2. — Repeat the following in a grand orotund 
timbre. 

"Figure to yourself a cataract like that of Niagara, pour- 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 93 

ed in foaming grandeur, not merely over one great precipice of 
two hundred feet, but over the successive ridgy precipices of 
two or three thousand, in the face of a mountain eleven thou- 
sand feet high, and tumbling, crashing, thundering down with 
a continuous din of far greater sublimity than the sound of the 
grandest cataract." — The Falls of the Zambesi. 

The selection requires a very solid and sonorous voice and 
good pitch modulation. The voice rises slowly in pitch and 
force. The climax of pitch is on the word tumbling; the 
greatest force is on thundering. The three words tumbling, 
crashing, thundering fall from the highest to nearly the lowest 
pitch ; after that, the voice falls in a cadence of weakening force 
and pitch to the end. 

Exercise 3. — Repeat the following powerful selection 
in strong orotund timbre and thorough stress. The words 
in black type are emphatic : 

"And you, ye five wild torrents, fiercely glad, who 
called you forth, from night and utter death, from dark and 
icy caverns called you forth, down those precipitous black, 
jagged rocks, forever shattered and the same forever? 
Who gave you your invulnerable life, your strength, your 
speed, your fury, and your joy, unceasing thunder, and 
eternal foam ? And who commanded, and the silence came, 
— Here let thy billows stiffen, and have rest ?" — Chamouni, 
by S. T. Coleridge. 

This is a magnificent exercise. The voice should be 
grandly orotund. The emphatic words should have strong 
downward glides. The climax in force and pitch is reached on 
the word joy, followed by a cadence. The word commanded 
should be preceded by a pause and followed by a low pitch. 
The voice rises on fiercely and on thunder. The last sentence 
should be spoken in a monotone. The words should not be 



94 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

rushed. The consonants should be strong. Unless the con- 
sonants are uttered very distinctly, the voice will roar. The 
whole selection should, if possible, be uttered in one breath. 

Grandeur in Stress. 

The thorough stress depicts grandeur. The thorough 
stress is force, or loudness, distributed evenly over every part 
of the syllables and the words. This stress cures orality. 

The timbres are the foundation of the voice, the stresses 
are the superstructure. The beautiful pure timbre is the best 
foundation of the voice. 

Exercise i. — Repeat the following in a voluminous 
voice and an even force on each word. 

"Forward the light brigade! charge for the guns! he 
said." 

The words are long and even, but they should not be 
sung ; glides must be put into them. The word charge espe- 
cially takes the thorough stress in a long full tone. The words 
"he said" require radical stress. 

Exercise 2. — The following should be given in thor- 
ough stress and orotund timbre. 

"Loud surges lash the sounding shore." 

Safeguards. 

The pure timbre and the median stress are, when they are 
used alone, comparatively insipid ; when they are used together, 
they are doubly insipid. Both the orotund timbre and the 
thorough stress are grand ; since they are usually together, care 
must be taken not to exaggerate them. The thorough stress 
should be combined with the pure timbre to prevent insipidity 
in the voice. The median stress should be combined with the 
orotund timbre to prevent a bombastic voice. Stress is a safe- 
guard to the speaker. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 95 

Exercise i. — Use the pure timbre and the thorough 
stress in the following quotation. 

"How bravely autumn paints upon the sky the gorgeous 
fame of summer which is fled." 

Exercise 2. — Use the median stress and the orotund 
timbre in the following quotation : 

"Nail to the mast her holy flag, set every threadbare sail." 

Breath Backing. 

Rapid counting, with a rapid inhalation after each count, 
cultivates strong breath backing for the voice. Breath back- 
ing keeps the lungs packed with air and provides a constant 
supply of breath for the voice. 

Exercise — Rapid Counting. — Count rapidly and light- 
ly from one to three hundred, and take a quick, inaudible 
breath through the nose after each count. 

The air should be taken in by a light rebound of the lungs 
after each count. The breath should, in public speaking, be 
caught naturally, unobserved by the audience, and should be 
coming in and going out all the time as it is needed. Neither- 
more nor less air should be taken in or let out than is needed- 
The mouth may be closed momentarily while the breath is be- 
ing drawn in through the nose. Air may be inhaled through 
the mouth only when the air is pure and the throat is raw. 

The air should not pass through the nostrils audibly. 
Audible respiration tears away the membrane, and may in- 
crease the mucous flow to such an extent that catarrh will de- 
velop. 

The art of taking a quick breath must be acquired by 
training. The rapid counting exercise trains the lungs to in- 
hale in an instant. The diaphragm drops and rebounds quick- 
ly for each inhalation. The speaker should be able to take a 



96 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

quick inhalation, whenever it is needed, without becoming con- 
scious of any effort. Rapid, unconscious breathing by the 
action of the diaphragm never tires the speaker. The clergy- 
man whose Sunday exhaustion forces him to rest the whole 
next day would fare better if he would adopt a proper method 
of breathing. 

No pause should be made to take a breath. An inhala- 
tion should be taken without apparent movement of the chest. 
The length of a respiration often depends on the length of a 
natural pause in the speaking. Natural inhalation and exhala- 
tion must take place at the thought-pauses, and not at the com- 
mas and periods. Pauses are sometimes required by the 
thought when no pause is required for breath. 

The exercises in hammering consonants, syllables and 
words may be reviewed here because they add to the power of 
the voice. 



CHAPTER TEN. 



SUPPLEMENTARY HELPS. 



Face and Eyes. 

The interest of an audience is largely dependent on what 
it finds in the face and especially in the eyes of a speaker, for 
the eye is the direct sense of the brain and conveys thought 
quicker than the sounds of the voice. The face and the eyes 
are the mirror in which the mind and the soul of the speaker 
are reflected. The eyes and the face of the speaker should 
play in harmony with his thoughts and feelings. A leaden, 
stiff, hanging face is uninteresting. The face looks stupid 
when the eyes lack expression. Interesting eyes will relieve 
even a dull speech. We speak of a strong eye, a dead eye, a 
wild eye, a quick eye, etc. 

The meaning of the eyes changes with the position of the 
eyelids. The eyelid half-way over the pupil of the eyes indi- 
cates calmness; at the top of the iris, interest; above the top of 
the iris, showing a narrow line of white above the iris, excite- 
ment ; far above the iris, showing much white, uncontrolled ex- 
citement. When the eyelid is down half-way over the dark 
pupil of the eye, it indicates deep thought ; when the upper eye- 
lid is at the top of the iris and the lower eyelid is up at the edge 
of the pupil, it indicates scrutiny. The expansion and contrac- 
tion of the pupil shows the measure of the speaker's genius. 
When the speaker is aroused in speaking, the pupil dilates, or 
expands. The eye brightens as the magnetism of the speaker 
increases; under tremendous excitement, it becomes jet-black. 



98 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

The eye does not change when the speaking is only physical 
and muscular. Health is shown by the clearness of the eye- 
balls. 

The eyes can be made flexible and expressive by gymnas- 
tic movements of the eyeballs. Faults in vision are usually 
due either to a flattening or to a bulging of the eyeballs. The 
rotundity of the eyeballs may sometimes be restored by exercis- 
ing the eye muscles. Exercise will certainly strengthen the 
eyes both for sight and for expression. Care, however, is nec- 
essary, and the eyes should return to their normal place after 
each movement. The head should not move with the eyes. 

Exercise — Eye Movements. — Move the eyes far to the 
right, return them for rest to their normal place, then move 
them far to the left. 

Move the eyes upward and look straight up; after return- 
ing them to their place, look straight down. 

Look up far away to the right ; look down toward the left ; 
look up toward the left ; look down toward the right. 

Move the eyes in circles, right, up, left, down and reverse, 
in one movement. 

Magnetic Eyes. 

Exercise. — Stand before a mirror. Develop a pene- 
trating gaze by looking straight at the pupil of the eye in the 
mirror with a determination to outlook it. Stare hard at the 
mirror and put intensity into the muscles of the eyelids ; open 
the eyes wide and hold them tense while trying to open and 
tense them still more. Open them as widely and as tensely as 
possible. Stand dead-still. This will develop inward eye 
growth. 

The speaker should habitually cultivate the tense open, 
magnetic eye. The look, however, must not be excited, and 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 99 

the eyebrows must remain normal. Ught should never be per- 
mitted to fall directly on the eyeballs. 

Eye Control. 

This subject is introduced here only because it is connected 
with the exercise of the eye muscles. It will be discussed 
again twice at the end of the book to show the order of its 
value in expression and its service in controlling audiences. 

Self-control commences with the eyes. When the eyes 
wink and wander aimlessly, the words will not appeal to any- 
body. A far-away mind will assume a far-away look. The 
eye must be kept under control, and, like the voice, must never 
be permitted to roam about in empty space. The eyes look off 
into empty space when the speaker is about to break down. 

As long as the mind is in control and the work is purely 
objective, the eye should never be taken off the audience. The 
voice and the eye should constantly cover the whole audience. 
By the refraction of light in the eyes, the eye takes in the whole 
audience even when it seemingly is directed toward only one 
person. The eye should not be on two persons at one time ; it 
must, however, never be fixed on one person. The safest rule 
for reaching all the people in an audience is to speak to the ex- 
tremes, or rear lines, of the auditorium. This rule applies only 
when the mind is in control and the work is objective. 

Subjective speakers do not look at the audience as long as 
the work is subjective; objective speakers never take the eyes 
off the audience as long as the work is objective. Both ob- 
jective and subjective speakers hold audiences by the power of 
the eye. The subjective speaker sees the audience mentally 
and emotionally, without looking at individuals, and the audi- 
ence feels that it is under control. The objective speaker must 
look at individuals in succession and at the same time include 



loo VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

the whole audience. An objective speaker is a part of the 
audience; the subjective speaker is a part of the Hfe or scene 
which he portrays ; a look at the audience would destroy the 
picture. In objective work, the eye gestures like the hand. In 
subjective work, the eye, the hand, the body and the voice be- 
come dramatic and emotional. Whenever the eye is used in 
objective work to take the place of a gesture or to follow an 
imaginary picture, it must immediately return and cover the 
audience again. A wandering eye loses control of an audience. 
Both objective and subjective speakers must mentally see the 
pictures which they draw. 

Polish and Politeness. 

Polish and politeness are valuable in physical expression. 
Polish is of the body, politeness is of the mind. They are nat- 
ural only when they are habitual. 

Polish is muscular smoothness and refinement. A blow 
can be struck in a polished manner. The muscular system 
should be educated in muscular refinement. The body should 
have good physical presence. Polish includes grace. Polite- 
ness includes polish and grace. Grace is obedience to the law 
of poise and flexibility in the carriage of the body. Mere grace 
is cold and colorless as long as it lacks warmth of polite learn- 
ing and action. 

Human beings are like diamonds, which are not beautiful 
till they have been cut and polished. Polish can be acquired 
only at home. Our words and our actions should be under 
constant surveillance. If our conduct is not as scrupulously 
correct at home as before an audience, some unguarded mo- 
ment in public will betray everything. What we do ordinarily 
we will surely do before an audience. We should never do in 
private life what we would not do publicly. Occasional polish 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. loi 

is unnatural because it is not habitual. Lord Chesterfield was 
famous for mental polish. Edward Everett was most polished 
physically. 

Polish may be acquired in the following manner. Imag- 
ine yourself present in refined society, such as the society of 
polished ladies who are queens in refined ease; practice meet- 
ing them, introducing them and conversing with them. A pre- 
sentation at court is always preceded by a careful preparation 
in handling the body and the dress. The private practice of 
meeting imaginary polished people answers all practical pur- 
poses in developing polish. 

Mental politeness should be cultivated as much as physical 
polish. Politeness is an art. Politeness combines generosity, 
deference and love toward others with a mental smoothness in 
the use of the muscles. Politeness sincerely desires to serve 
mankind. A rough laborer who possesses no culture and no 
polish may be truly polite. Politeness sacrifices personal com- 
fort to the welfare of others. Washington was polite even to 
his slaves ; when they raised their hats to him, he raised his hat 
to them. 

Solicitude for the comfort and happiness of others is a 
paying investment. The polite man receives more than he 
gives. 

Dignity. 

Dignity in the movements of the body requires directness 
of action. Dignity avoids unnecessary and superfluous actions. 
A dignified person would turn the leaf of a book with a single 
movement of the hand, and button a coat without working at 
the button holes. Grace is founded on dignity, and dignity is 
founded on simplicity. 

Dignity in character requires an even temperament. The 
irritation of our nervous age grows with the increase of the re- 



102 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

finements of life, and becomes settled in the soured dispositions 
of men. 

Dignity of action and of character should be combined 
with simplicity of speech. 

Speakers should cultivate composure. Composure is an 
element of success in dealing with an audience, and wins great 
battles. Automatic movements should be avoided. In public 
work there must be no winking of the eyes, no swaying at the 
ankles, no twisting at the elbows, no hitching of the body. The 
speaker should be able to stand still when necessary and not 
look stupid when slight embarrassments occur. Supreme ap- 
parent indifference to the audience, combined with an apparent 
desire to please or help it, will be a great aid in speaking. Men- 
tality alone cannot succeed. The art of expression includes 
culture of every kind. 

The true orator avoids all display before an audience. 
Display is offensive to cultured people. The exercises used in 
cultivating the art of speaking must be discarded and kept out 
of the mind in public work ; the mind must not be hampered by 
thinking of rules for speaking. The great benefit of rules and 
exercises lies in the development of the speaker's personality. 
The audience should never be allowed to suppose that a man 
has studied oratory for display before an unthinking public. 
Even flowery language and delivery may be offensive to good 
taste. 

Tone Color. 

Tone colors are either objective or subjective. Tone color 
is mental and emotional interest apparent in the voice. The 
tones of the voice should bear the impression of the brain and 
the heart. Words should never be uttered without mental or 
emotional feeling. Colorless voices are dead. Tone color is 
the soul of the voice. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 103 

The development of tone colors is the quickest way of ac- 
quiring the art of effective speaking. Thought and feeling can 
quickly be thrown into words. Both thought and feeling are 
very expressive. Thought is expressed in mental tone colors ; 
feeling is expressed in emotional tone colors; the one is ob- 
jective, the other is subjective. Subjective tone colors are 
dramatic. 

Words that are given with mental tone color express and 
convey the speaker's mental appreciation and impression. Men- 
tal tone color adds to the words a forceful specific intellectual 
meaning which they themselves may not contain. Mental tone 
color in the expression of thought requires the use of conscious 
mental power and all the arts of expression in such a way that 
the thought will receive its fullest suggestive mental expres- 
sion. The voice should have dynamic force in the expression 
of thought and mental appreciation. 

Emotional tone color should be distinguished very clearly 
from mental tone color. Emotional tone color expresses and 
arouses the emotions and passions. It requires emotional and 
passional force of such strength that it may rise to the very 
summits of expression. 

Emotional tone color belongs to the subjective voice and 
must be treated in a separate chapter. 

Mental Tone Color. 

The voice should show mental interest in what is being 
said. The speaker must mean in his voice what he thinks. 
Mental tone color utters the words with a determination that 
they shall be understood and felt as the speaker understands 
and feels them. 

There are many mental tone colors. Every thought has 
its own mental coloring. Mental interest is infinitely varied in 
character and degree. 



104 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

The mental tone colors may be developed by practice in 
throwing the required mental interest and expression into cer- 
tain selected quotations. 

Each selection should be repeated till the voice has the de- 
sired color. The mental color itself may be acquired before it 
is expressed in the voice by repeating each color many times 
mentally. 

The following tone colors may be practiced as illustrating 
tone color. 

1. Determination. — Repeat the words, "I will not" with 
determination. Various renditions are possible. The tones of 
the voice may express the calm and indifferent refusal of a re- 
quest. They may be the tones of a positive man speaking in a 
low pitch, slow time and falling glides to settle a controversy. 
They may be uttered with intense feeling, clenched fists, and 
glaring eyes, etc. 

2. Surprise. — "Gone ! to be married !" The word gone 
takes a long rising low glide with the accent on the end of the 
word. The same glide should be used on the word married. 
The meaning becomes more pronounced when the glide is 
lengthened in time. 

3. Wonder. — "Oh, a wonderful stream is the river 
time." The word wonderful is emphatic and suggests the 
proper tone color. The beauty of the words should be express- 
ed by the median stress, which swells the middle of the syl- 
lables. 

4. Exultation. — "Ay, every inch a king." King Lear. 
This may be given in strong tones, orotund timbre and thor- 
ough stress. The chest may be thrown out. The body may 
seemingly float in air. The arms may be folded on the chest. 
The voice should glow with exultation. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 105 

5. Defiance.— '1 tell thee, thou'rt defied !"— Scott's Mar- 
mion. The tones should be intense. The head and the chest 
should be raised high. The index finger may be pointed at the 
enemy. 

6. Melancholy. — "The melancholy days are come, the 
saddest of the year." This is slow and low in tone. 

7. Sarcasm. — "I rather choose to wrong the dead, to 
wrong myself, and you, than I will wrong such honorable 
men." 

Marcus Antonius at first speaks in a serious, half-dark 
voice, but on "honorable" he uses a double glide in the voice. 
He shows his sarcasm also in his actions. To designate "the 
dead," his right hand goes out and down to the corpse of Cae- 
sar ; on "myself*, his hand goes to his heart ; on "you", his left 
hand goes out to the left toward the people ; but on the word 
"honorable men," he throws these men away, while calling 
them honorable, by throwing his right hand from his heart far 
to the right and down behind the body. 

8. Horror. — "Hence ! horrible shadow ! unreal mockery, 
hence!" 

Macbeth here defies the ghost. He throws his hands out 
to repel it. 

Miniature Exercise. 

The voice and the body should be prepared before speak- 
ing by the use of as many preliminary exercises as are neces- 
sary to unlimber the voice and the expressive action. 

Exercise i — Body. — Do all kinds of gymnastic move- 
ments to unlimber the body before speaking; rise on the toes, 
step far out on the bended knee, twist the body, throw the arms 
in circles, shake the hands from the wrists, stretch and circle 
the fingers, etc. 



io6 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Exercise 2 — Diaphragm. — Fill the lungs and hold the 
breath. Press the hands hard against the lower ribs, and bend 
right, left, backward and forward. 

Exercise 3 — Chest. — Hold the breath, and knead the 
chest with the hands. Then beat all parts of the chest rapidly 
with very light blows from the flat of the fingers. Do not 
pound. 

Exercise 4 — Neck and Throat. — Stretch the muscles of 
the neck by turning the head in various directions. The throat 
should be massaged by light blows, etc. 

Exercise 5 — Nostril Exercise. — Open the nasal cham- 
ber by closing the nostrils with the fingers and filling the nasal 
cavities with air. 

Exercise 6 — Glottis Stroke. — The voice should be 
made clear by successions of light glottis strokes in various 
pitches. 

Exercise 7 — Glottis Tone. — Prolong a clear glottis 
stroke into a pure tone. 

Exercise 8 — Glottis Blow. — Say "ho" with a heavy 
strong tone. Or turn the head, with a sudden movement, to 
the right and to the left and after each turn immediately say 
"blow" or "bold" with strong force and volume. 

Exercise 9 — Resonance. — Prolong the word "Rome" 
or "roll" with full resonance in the chest, the throat, the mouth 
and the head. 

Exercise 10 — ^Breath Backing. — Count to one hundred 
with distinct enunciation and vocal variations, taking a breath 
very lightly after each count and keeping the lungs packed. 

Exercise 11 — Dark Form. — As a preparation for in- 
door speaking, prolong tones in the dark form. 

Exercise 12 — Range. — Slide the tones, ah, oh, etc.. 



OBJECTIVE VOICE. 107 

from the lowest to the highest pitch and from the highest to 
the lowest pitch. The tones may be swelled. 

Exercise 13 — Pitch. — Repeat words or sentences in 
the nine pitches. 

Exercise 14 — Intermittent Stress. — Prolong tones in 
the various degrees of the tremulo, vibrating stress. 

Exercise 15 — Consonants. — Before speaking in public, 
always practice words with difficult consonants. 

Exercise 16 — Control. — The body should be held dead- 
still for a few moments, and the mind should be in a still mood 
before the work begins. 

End of Objective Voice. 



PART TWO 



Subjective Voice 



CHAPTER ONE. 



WORD POWER. 

Objective and Subjective Voice. 

The objective voice is intellectual, the subjective voice 
is emotional. The objective voice holds an audience es- 
pecially by the power of the eye, and the use of the various 
arts of speech; the subjective voice uses the emotions to 
arouse an audience to the highest pitch of emotional 
thought and feeling. An objective, didactic lecture is not 
more instructive than a book read by the fireside. Sub- 
jective work is soul-stirring both in speech and action. 
Objective work reveals the mind; subjective work re- 
veals the soul and colors all words and actions with mag- 
netic nerve power. 

The whole art of expression is built on words and 
actions. Objective work is nine-tenths words and one- 
tenth action; subjective work is one-tenth words and nine- 
tenths life and action. Action, however, is not theatrical 
acting; the centre of interest in acting lies in the stage 
movements. Action is the portrayal of life. 

Vocabulary. 

Growth of character as well as of power is co-exten- 
sive with a usable vocabulary. Words have a great in- 
fluence on human character because they both express 
and create thought. Webster became Miltonic in language 
and character by the constant study of Milton. 



112 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

A good vocabulary is needed in good speaking. An 
orator must be a master in the use of language. The value, 
weight and meaning of words must be appreciated by all 
those who desire to achieve success in speaking. A 
speaker's vocabulary is limited to the range of the words 
whose meaning is famihar to him and which are at his 
command. The acquisition of a vocabulary of five thou- 
sand words would be a source of great oratorical power. 

Men ordinarily use less than five hundred words. 
Rufus Choate had a command of seventeen thousand 
words. This great vocabulary was acquired by him 
through the habit of using every new word at the first 
opportunity. 

Words do not become a part of the speaker's usable 
vocabulary unless they are used as soon as they are learned. 
New words should immediately be used even though it 
should become necessary to force a conversation to do so. 
Every new word is a rich acquisition. 

The inner meaning of words should be grasped. The 
value of words depends on their expressive power. This 
power may often be found by enunciating the words ac- 
cording to their meaning. The meaning should appear in 
the sounds of the voice. The sound frequently has more 
expressive value than the word itself. Shylock throws 
villainous hate into the words, "I hate him for he is a 
Christian." Old Scrooge says "bah" with utmost mean- 
ness, and puts a meaning into the word which the printed 
word does not depict. 

Special attention should be paid to the words in which 
the thought or feeilng of a sentence centres. These words 
should be found instinctively. The contents of a whole 
page may sometimes be ascertained by a glance at a single 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 1 13 

word. A train of thought can be memorized by catching 
the important words in succession. A whole speech may- 
be evolved out of the suggestions contained in a few words. 
The speaker who has a good vocabulary is supplied 
with such a rich fund of words that the words will fairly 
throng around the ideas waiting to fall into place. 

Diction. 

Greatness of expression is dependent not only on the 
range of words which a speaker brings into use but also 
on the choice and arrangement of words and modes of ex- 
pression. 

Everyday diction and the parlance of the street, the 
household and the newspaper should be eschewed. Speak- 
ers should use good language. 

Inaccuracy in the use of words leads to many blunders 
in expression. When a man says that he is much obliged, 
he should not be told that he is welcome; and when he 
says, "I thank you" he should not be told in the words 
"not at all" that he is not thankful. 

A speaker must not be at a loss for words in speak- 
ing. Extra words should be thought of which may be 
needed during the course of a speech. Many shade words 
should be learned to avoid repetition of terms. 

A speaker should not think of his words while he is 
speaking. If the speaker stops to correct himself, he will 
fall into the mannerisms of halting and hitching. Halting 
grows on a person. The voice will not halt when the end 
of a sentence is kept visible in the mind. The language of 
an address should flow like the flow of lead in the linotype. 
The mind should never be hampered by the work. 

The words of an oration should be found incidentally 
by a preliminary development of the action. The action 



1 14 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

and the ideas should be evolved before any attention is 
given to the w^ords. A painter tells everything at once; 
an orator must elaborate his v^ords and actions by a labor- 
ious process. The spirit of the words should be estab- 
lished before the v^ords receive any thought; v^ords w^ith- 
out spirit v^ill vanish v^hen words are needed the most. 
When the action has been established, the words will come 
spontaneously and fall naturally into their place. 

Oratorical success often depends on the way in which 
things are said both in words and actions. Good speaking 
requires an artistic temperament. An untrained speaker 
speaks in an ordinary way; an artistic speaker can present a 
subject with a wealth of meaning and feeling. The subjec- 
tive power of some speakers is so great that every word 
which they use seems great. A good reciter does not de- 
pended on the recitation for effect but can make even the 
poorest recitation very effective. 

Emphasis. 

There are three kinds of emphasis. Physical em- 
phasis is exclamatory; emotional emphasis is actional; in- 
tellectual emphasis is deliberate. Intellectual emphasis is 
mental and argumentative; emotional emphasis is dra- 
matic; physical emphasis is mere noise. Emotional em- 
phasis feels, and produces feeling; intellectual emphasis 
lays stress on the thing to be done; physical emphasis 
neither thinks nor feels. The question, "What shall I do?" 
takes physical emphasis on the word do, intellectual em- 
phasis on the word what, and emotional emphasis on the 
word shall. 

Argumentative speech uses either purely mental em- 
phasis, including the glides, or a combination of mental 
and emotional emphasis. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 115 

Inflexible voices usually employ force and simple en- 
ergy in emphasizing. Shouting and ranting, however, 
never make a speech emphatic or convincing. Loud tones 
irritate an audience. An empty wagon makes the most 
noise. Lyman Beecher facetiously said that he hollered 
the louder in preaching, the farther he was from God. The 
deeper the feeling, the less the physical expression and 
outward action. Physical speakers usually aggravate the 
physical emphasis of shouting and calling by the addition 
of pounding and stamping. The voice should be let out 
only for contrast in expression; then it will rest the au- 
dience. 

The word which carries the thought in a group of 
words is called the thought-word. The thought-word re- 
quires emphasis; the sentence requires modulation. 

Words are emphatic when they represent time, place, 
transaction and the participant, or, in other words, when 
they respond to the questions, when, where, what and who. 

Emphasis implies either contrast or comparison. Con- 
trast separates, comparison likens. Emphatic words al- 
ways suggest their opposite ; when we emphasize the word 
quality, we suggest quantity. The second term of a con- 
trast alone is emphatic; when we say, "Contrast is not 
comparison", we emphasize comparison. The meaning 
of the entire thought is affected by a change of emphasis 
from one word to another. This may be seen by chang- 
ing the emphasis on the different words in the question, 
"Will you ride to town today?" In comparison, only the 
word that establishes the comparison is emphatic; when 
we say, "She sang like a nightingale," we emphasize the 
word nightingale. In compound thought, the last word is 
emphatic; when we say, the King of England, we empha- 



ii6 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

size England. The qualifying word is never emphatic un- 
less the qualified word is emphatic. Involved words are 
not emphatic; one word in the thought is emphatic, and 
the others are taken for granted. Words that merely carry 
on the general thought should be passed over lightly in 
reading and speaking. Unemphatic words should not re- 
ceive much attention. Emphasis should never be jerky. 
In objective work, the emphatic word and its accented syl- 
lable take the gesture. 

The emphatic word should be framed, or set off from 
the other words. The word should not be emphasized 
merely by putting more force on it. The emphatic word 
should in all cases receive enough attention to make it 
stand out among the other words. 

There are over twenty ways of emphasizing words. 
The best emphasis brings out the emphatic word by a 
pause, or ellipse, both before and after it. The use of a 
contrary pitch on the emphatic word is next in value in 
emphasizing. Another form of emphasis makes the word 
emphatic by subduing the surrounding words. Very 
strong emphasis is produced by subduing the emphatic 
word and elevating the surrounding words. A change of 
timbre sometimes provides the emphasis. 

The habit of measuring off groups of words by fre- 
quent pauses makes the reading intellectually exact, but 
unnatural. The words in a sentence which have mental or 
emotional emphasis should be brought out by giving them 
their proper tone color, and everything else in the group 
should be subordinated to the color. Reading should not 
be mechanical. The emphatic words must be grouped, 
pictured and colored with either thought or emotion. 
Good reading requires that the words shall have as much 
meaning as possible. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 117 

The voice should be trained to resist rhythm. Rhythm 
kills sense; the ordinary rhythm in the voice should be 
reversed. 

In the following illustrative quotation the words joy, 
calms and death should be contrasted. All the words 
should be uttered with falling glides and beautiful pitch 
modulation. 

"O my soul's joy; if after every tempest come such 
calms, may the winds blow till they have awakened 
death."— Othello. 

Some Species of Emphasis. 

Emphasis is a special importance given to words and 
phrases. This may be accomplished in one of the following 
ways, or through a combination of two or more thereof. 

1. Force. — Increasing or decreasing the prevailing 
force produces emphasis, e. g., "Study to show thyself a 
man." 

2. Stress. — Changing or intensifying the prevailing 
stress produces emphasis. 

Median, (a) changed: "O change! O wondrous 
change ! Burst are the prison bars." (b) Intensified: ''But 
all, thou hast all seasons for thine own, O death !" 

Radical, (a) changed: "Whence and what art thou, 
execrable shape?" (b) Intensified: "Be ready, gods, with 
all your thunderbolts, dash him to pieces !" 

Final, (a) changed: "Back to thy punishment, false 
fugitive!" (b) Intensified: "Thou slave! thou wretch! 
thou coward !" 

Compound, (a) changed: "Ecstacy ! my pulse, as 
yours, doth temperately keep time.' (b) Intensified: 
"Tried and convicted traitor !" 



ii8 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Thorough, (a) changed: "O Rome! Rome! thou hast 
been a tender nurse to me." (b) Intensified: "Arm! arm! 
ye heavens, against these perjured kings !" 

Intermittent, (a) changed: "And my soul from out 
that shadow, that lies floating on the floor, shall be lifted — 
Nevermore.'* (b) Intensified: "Tell me- — tell me, I im- 
plore." 

3. Quality. — Timbres are certain characters which 
are given to the qualities of voice. They depict our feel- 
ings. Qualities are certain combinations of timbres ready 
for use. Changing the prevailing quality produces em- 
phasis. 

Aspirate: "And then I cried for vengeance." Gut- 
tural: "Revenge is stamped upon my spear, and blood's 
my battle cry !" 

4. Pitch. — Raising or lowering the prevailing pitch 
by a discreet movement produces emphasis. Raised 
pitch: "Simpson came up with his face pale as ashes, and 
said, ^Captain, the ship is on fire !' Then, *Fire ! fire ! fire !' 
on shipboard." 

5. Inflection. — Raising or lowering the pitch pro- 
duces emphasis. Raising: "I fail!" Lowering: "Yes, you 
fail !" 

6. Time. — Increasing or decreasing the prevailing 
time produces emphasis. Increasing: "If ye are men, follow 
me." Decreasing: "Not among the wounded — missing! 
That was all the letter said." 

7. Pause. — Every word that is emphasized by force, 
stress, quality, pitch, inflection or time, should be pre- 
ceded and followed by a pause. The lengthening of a 
pause that precedes a word will of itself produce emphasis. 
"To be, or— not to be." 



CHAPTER TWO, 



FEELING AND MAGNETIC WARMTH. 



Brain Functions. 

The brain has three parts : the cerebrum, the cerebel- 
lum and the medulla oblongata. The cerebrum, or front 
portion of the brain, is the seat of thought and mind; it 
trains the cerebellum, or middle portion, to execute its 
commands. The cerebellum controls and directs the mus- 
cles. The cerebrum thinks, the cerebellum acts, the me- 
dulla, or rear portion of the brain, feels. The cerebrum is 
mental, the cerebellum is physical, the medulla is emo- 
tional. The cerebellum co-ordinates the action of all the 
nerves, muscles and bones of the body; it may be trained 
by frequent repetitions to perform certain actions auto- 
matically. 

The medulla controls the heart, the stomach and the 
lungs, or the circulation of the blood, digestion and breath- 
ing, which are not subject to voluntary control. 

Personal magnetism is impossible when the intelli- 
gence of the brain is not under conscious control or is 
withdrawn from muscular performance. Automatic ac- 
tions are devoid of magnetism. The speaker should never 
give way to agitation; strong mental agitation is bene- 
ficial only as long as it is controlled by the will. Irritabil- 
ity also should be conquered and suppressed. Worry, 
care, bad news, nervousness, etc., depress the action of the 
medulla and injure the health by interfering with respira- 



I20 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

tion, digestion and blood circulation. Bad news, for in- 
stance, destroys appetite. Care absorbs vitality. 

Magnetic Forces and Conditions. 

Personal magnetism, in one word, is attractiveness. 
An attractive and interesting speaker has great power 
over audiences. 

The three great magnetic forces in speaking are feel- 
ing, fire and character force. They may be described in a 
few words as warmth of emotional feeling and passion, in- 
tensity of nervous and muscular force, and energy. Feel- 
ing is represented in the voice by the intermittent, or 
tremulo, stress. Fire tenses the nerves and the muscles. 
Character force reveals strength of character by solidity in 
the tones of the voice. The three forces always work to- 
gether although each remains in its own sphere. 

The action of the three forces is simliar to that of a 
thunderstorm. Feeling, or pathos, is the shower; intensity 
is the lightning; energy is the thunder. Dead voices often 
use much thunder in their tones. Orators should seek to 
thunder less and lightning more. 

The effectiveness of the three great magnetic forces 
depends on the following conditions: i, indomitable will; 
2, a large magnetic life; 3, a persistent thinking of, and 
yearning for, the object which is desired; 4, the throwing 
out of the magnetic lines toward the desired result. 

There are four obstacles and barriers to magnetic 
power: i, an empty voice; 2, automatic action; 3, embar- 
rassment ; 4, unwillingness to do difficult tasks. 

The three magnetic forces will be considered in detail 
in the following sections. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 121 

Feeling. 

The first magnetic force is feeling. Feeling requires 
the use of the intermittent stress. 

Physical power in the voice is expressed by force, or 
loudness; mental power, by glides; emotional power, by 
the intermittent stress. This stress may be either mechan- 
ical or emotional. Physical and mechanical intermittent 
stress is not very valuable. 

The intermittent stress loses its effectiveness when it 
is so pronounced as to be noticeable. Street beggars use 
large wavy tremulo tones. Some of the poorest speakers 
are all tears in the voice. Sermons and prayers are not im- 
proved by large trembling tones. The intermittent stress 
should be concealed, and its influence only should be felt. 
An agency of influence so marked as to be noticeable to 
others at once loses its efficiency. 

The emotional intermittent stress serves not only to 
express the feelings of the speaker in his voice but also 
to produce feeling both in the speaker and in the audience. 
Feeling in the voice excites a responsive condition in the 
nerves. The muscular sound of the voice excites only the 
physical sense of hearing. The voice should therefore 
never be used without feeling. The intermittent stress 
shows feeling. Congregations love pastors who have a 
quiet tremulo voice in which the tremulo is not noticed but 
felt. 

The intermittent stress should be produced by the 
gentle vibration of the diaphragm. The vibration of the 
diaphragm itself should be inspired and produced by the 
gradual development of feeling. The vibration which 
singers produce in the throat is valuable only as an artificial 
exercise. Ice and coldness in the voice may be removed by 



122 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

practicing glides in large tremulo waves. Ice in the feel- 
ings may be melted by using the orotund timbre in the in- 
termittent stress. The intermittent stress takes dryness 
and dullness out of the voice, and saves the throat. The 
use of the intermittent stress is facilitated by the use of 
low pitches in speaking. 

The waves of the intermittent stress should be studied 
with the aid of a chart. The chart should show the range 
of the feelings in ten degrees running from a lack of feel- 
ing to a climax of feeling. Voices deficient in feeling 
would be represented by a long horizontal line consist- 
ing of fine and close waves. Voices awaking in interest, or 
the second degree of feeling, would be represented by a 
line of waves one-eighth of an inch high and wide. The 
third degree, which is the most valuable, although it can- 
not be distinguished by the ear, would have waves one- 
fourth of an inch wide and high. Average emotion, which 
should be hardly noticeable to the ear, would be a line 
with waves half an inch high. In the sixth degree, the 
waves would be half an inch wide and more frequent lin- 
eally. The singing tremulo would have waves about three- 
fourths of an inch high. The tenth degree, which is used 
in strong emotion and represents the climax of feeling, 
would require a broken line vibrating in heavy waves one 
inch wide and one inch high ; the tones would be almost as 
broken as running laughter. 

The emotional degrees of feeling run from the first 
to the fifth degree. The third degree should be used as a 
rule by every voice. The fourth degree of the tremulo in 
the voice goes home to the heart. The fifth degree is the 
limit of the emotional intermittent stress ; if the voice goes 
beyond the fifth degree, it may fall into excessive affecta- 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 123 

tion. Beyond the fifth degree lies the passional use of the 
voice. 

Moody used the fourth degree of the intermittent 
stress in his preaching, but never permitted the tones to 
become tremulous. Beecher and Spurgeon prayed in the 
fifth degree of the intermittent stress. 

Exercise. — Prolong the tone ah in each of the ten de- 
grees of the intermittent stress. The fifth degree employs 
a noticeable tremulo. The third degree reduces the wavy 
movements of the voice to such an extent that it is diffi- 
cult to distinguish any tremulo in the voice. The tremulo 
should be used in every utterance of the voice. 

The intermittent stress may be produced mechani- 
cally by rapidly beating the line of the diaphragm while 
prolonging a tone. 

Intensity. 

The second magnetic force is fire, or intensity. Mag- 
netic fire requires the use of a tense voice. The magnetic 
quality of the voice depends upon the amount of intensity 
thrown into it. Nervous intensity is the electricity of the 
body excited into a magnetic state. 

Magnetism is not hypnotism. Hypnotism puts people 
to sleep, magnetism wakes people up. Personal magnet- 
ism is the predominance of mind over matter. 

Magnetic persons magnetize their daily habits by 
vitality, conservation, repression and tension. Magnetic 
vitality of the nerves is generated either by exercises or by 
habit. Conservation is the habit of saving the vitality. 
Repression is waiting power which compels the energy of 
the body to remain quiet ; the initial increase of energy, so 
common in beginning a speech, should be checked by con- 
sonant touch, by stress and by holding the body dead-still. 



124 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Tension is an extraordinary vigor of nervous vitality in 
speaking whose most useful form may be acquired by ex- 
ercises in tense speech. Artificial tension in speaking 
should be avoided. 

A distinction should be made between mental mag- 
netism and personal magnetism. Some speakers have 
mental magnetism but lack personal magnetism. Mental 
magnetism is intellectual, personal magnetism is emo- 
tional. Mental magnetism photographs strong mental pic- 
tures on the brain of the audience by intense mental 
thought. Such mental magnetism is created by extempor- 
izing ideas in rapid succession. 

Personal magnetism, or attractiveness, is an outflow 
of life, nervous vitality and will power. This magnetism 
cannot be developed unless all the faculties are aroused 
both by an ever present mental determination to accom- 
plish a certain purpose and by a continuous interest in 
the process of accomplishment. Magnetism requires a 
strength of the fibres of the body which can be acquired 
only by hard practice. After the electrical vitality of the 
body has been generated, it is stored away in the nerve 
centres, or ganglia, which are distributed through the body 
and serve as electric storage batteries. 

The large nervous life required by personal magnet- 
ism is due to nerve tension, oxygen, proper food and ex- 
ercise. Oxygen is obtained by deep breathing, which vi- 
talizes the blood and carries off waste matter. The nerves 
are tensed by a gradual tightening and hardening of the 
muscles. The muscles should be tensed very gradually; 
a sudden tensing of the muscles would develop the muscles 
but would not strengthen the nerves. The muscles should 
be totally relaxed and devitalized before they are tensed. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 125 

The whole body and all its members can be devitalized and 
tensed. The gradual clenching of the fists will vitalize the 
nerves of the arms. 

Languor in the tones of the voice is due to a lack of 
muscular and nervous tension. The muscles and the 
nerves should be tensed according to the intensity of the 
feelings aroused in speaking. The nervous and muscular 
tension in the tones of the voice is the magnetic fire. The 
tightening of the strings of a violin raises the pitch of the 
notes. Magnetic tension develops fire in the nerves. The 
loss of control destroys magnetism. Such a small matter 
as a smile may let the mind out of the face and reduce the 
power of expression. 

Intense magnetic fire requires a tense chest. All 
warmth of feeling should be felt in the chest. The chest 
should be filled to overflowing with tense warmth. The 
tension should be stronger than its outward expression. 

Electricity is produced mechanically by friction and 
chemically by acids. A gradual increase of the tension of 
the nerves, accompanied by a gradual inhalation, excites 
chemical friction in the body. Rapid actions also produce 
electricity in the body. 

The following exercises are based on the theory of 
nerve tension and rapidity of action as sources of magnetic 
vocal power. 

Exercise i — Electric Exercise. — Stretch the arms 
wide apart ; fill the lungs ; then, keeping the arms straight, 
clap the hands together and throw them wide apart again 
with the rapidity of lightning in both movements. The 
body is electrified by the rapidity of the action. 

Exercise 2 — Magnetic Exercise. — Hold both arms 
out straight forward. Gradually inhale, and fill the lungs ; 



126 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

at the same time, gradually clench and tense the fists up to 
their utmost tension. The inhaling and the tensing must 
go together and be completed at the same moment. The 
elbows should be kept elevated. The lungs should not be 
full till the utmost tension is reached. The exercise can 
be done by clenching the fists in the pockets, gradually 
grasping a seat, etc. 

A gradual tensing of the muscles, combined with a 
gradual inhalation of air, is probably the only way in 
which the nerves can be exercised. A sudden tensing of 
the muscles would not strengthen the nerves. The exer- 
cise of will power in gradually tensing the muscles put the 
nerves under the influence of the muscular strain; the 
gradual inhalation of air drives a fresh current of blood 
through the body and enables the muscles and the nerves 
to absorb nourishment during the tension. 

Other parts of the body may be tensed in the same 
manner. When one part is being tensed, the other parts 
should be relaxed. This often relieves nervousness. 

Strong exercises should be approached gradually, and 
should alternate with gentle exercises. Power comes by 
momentum. 

Exercise 3 — Rapidity of Utterance. — Under the pres- 
sure of great feeling, rapidity of utterance thrills the voice. 
Fill the lungs. Stand dead-still; the slightest movement 
defeats the result. Repeat the words with furiously rapid 
utterance. The pitch should be low. The consonants 
should be coined with intense magnetic touch. The voice 
should be very solid. Not force, but intensity of voice and 
strong consonant touch is the object of the exercise. Con- 
sonants touched with energetic nerve power magnetize the 
voice. The following quotation should be used. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 127 

*'Now you see the water foaming all around. See 
how fast you pass yon point. Up with the helm, now turn, 
pull hard, quick, quick, quick, pull for your lives ! pull till 
the blood starts from your nostrils, and the veins stand like 
whip-cords on your brow!" — Gough. (Boat going over 
Niagara.) 

Exercise 4 — Magnetic Walk. — The tensing and re- 
laxing of the body and the limbs in walking magnetizes the 
body. When a limb is free, every muscle in it should be 
completely relaxed; but when it takes the weight, every 
muscle should be tensed by a direct act of the conscious 
will. Relaxation should alternate with tension. The eye 
should show interest. 

Exercise 5 — Intense Utterance. — Practice the follow- 
ing lines in quiet tones, without force, but full of inward 
tensity of feeling: "Burned Marmion's swarthy cheek 
like fire, and shook his very frame for ire."^ — Contort the 
body, clench the fists and writhe with powerful nerve exer- 
tion, while the tones are absorbing the true feeling of the 
lines. Be sure the voice has no force. Make every sylla- 
ble tense, almost to a demoniac power. The work should 
be all intensity and no force or loudness. Have no half-way 
work about it, but grasp the exercise with an iron will, and 
light furiously all along the line. 

Character Force. 

The third magnetic force is energy, or character force. 
Character force requires the use of solid tones in the voice. 

Strong magnetic speakers throw the whole strength 
of their character into the tones of the voice. Characer 
force is expressed in the voice by solidity of tone. Com- 
pressed solidity makes the voice intense in nervous interest. 

The tones of the voice are made solid by tensing the 



128 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

full lungs. The lungs must be full of pent up air, and the 
breathing must be done on full lungs. The whole body 
should be solid; every muscle should be so tense and alert 
that the whole body is as light as a feather. 

Repressed solidity of impassioned speech develops 
magnetism in the voice. 

The orotund timbre is valuable in developing solidity 
of tone. The voice should be large and full, the throat 
should be released, and the chest should be solid. The 
^natural solidity of the orotund timbre is increased by en- 
larging the chest and tensing the consonants during tone 
production. 

Exercise — Orotund Solidity. — The following selec- 
tion requires a solid, grand voice. The chest should be 
enlarged, the throat should be open for volume, and the 
consonants should be tense. 

"But thou, most awful form, risest from forth thy 
silent sea of pines, how silently * * * Around thee, and 
above, deep is the air and dark, substantial black, an ebon 
mass ! But when I look again, it is thine own calm home, 
thy crystal shrine, thy habitation from eternity." — Cha- 
mouni, by Coleridge. 

Thrilling Power. 

An audience can be perfectly thrilled only when the 
speaker quietly and firmly maintains that higher form of 
inspiration which denotes absolute feeling. The quiet vi- 
bration of the tones is thrilling. 

All magnetic intensity comes from the gray matter of 
the brain, which is distributed through the body in the 
form of ganglionic nerve-cells. 

The magnetic power of the speaker must originate 
within himself, and not from without. The speaker should 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 129 

not only be thrilled through and through by the thrill 
which he desires to impart to the audience, but he should 
also quietly and firmly maintain the thrill within himself 
while its waves are running through the audience. 

The orator should thrill others, but he should not let 
others thrill him. The thrill strengthens the speaker, but 
weakens the audience. Audiences love to be thrilled; 
when they have been weakened by the thrilling power of 
a speaker, they resolve to be great ; but the next day they 
will be weaker than ever. The influence of exterior power 
weakens character. People should not let themselves be 
thrilled and influenced into secondary power. Speakers 
should free themselves from the impressions created by 
others. 

Exercise i. — Practice the words, "All hail the power 
of Jesus' name" with thrilling power. The tones of the 
voice should be solid, the body should be held very tense, 
and the words should be thrilled through and through with 
a nervous glow. The word Jesus should be uttered with 
deep emotion; its first syllable should be uttered with an 
open swelling tone which reveals a flow of sublime soul 
life. 

Exercise 2. — Repeat the following words of Patrick 
Henry with thrilling power. 

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased 
at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, almighty 
God ! I know not what course others may take ; but as for 
me, give me liberty, or give me death !" 

Magnetic Power. 

There are three distinct oratorical temperaments: i, 
the magnetic, which burns the voice and its expression into 
an audience; 2, the virile, manly and heroic, which is espe- 



130 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

cially valuable in the expression of noble and sacred things; 
and 3, the light and delicate. 

When the nerves and the ganglionic nerve-cells are 
charged with electricity, the whole body becomes mag- 
netic. This magnetism communicates itself to the tones 
of the voice. The voice indicates exactly the amount of 
vitality and magnetism possessed by the body. The voice 
is sick when the ganglia have been exhausted by loss of 
sleep or by automatic actions. 

The magnetism of the body should never be allowed 
to escape. A speech loses its power unless the magnetism 
of the speaker is held in store undiminished to the end. 
Uncontrolled loudness in speaking destroys magnetism 
almost instantly. The voice cannot be magnetic when it is 
physical. Nervous prostration is often due to the mongrel 
vocal friction of ordinary conversation. 

There are four propositions of power which should 
be observed in the cultivation of magnetism: i, what is 
worth doing should be done well ; 2, the speaker must com- 
pletely absorb the work into his being; 3, a picture of the 
whole work and all its details should be clearly formed 
and established in the brain; 4, the picture should be trans- 
mitted to the audience by an interchange of power between 
the speaker and the audience. 

First Proposition of Power. — Magnetic speakers must 
do their work well. The work that is being done should 
be the most important thing in the world to the speaker 
at the time. The audience must be aroused to see the im- 
portance of the work. A great speaker can throw a uni- 
verse of importance into a single line. If the work is of 
no importance to the speaker, it will also not impress the 
audience. Great importance may be attached to seemingly 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 131 

unimportant details. Business men succeed only when 
they are interested in their work and know how to com- 
municate their interest to others. 

Second Proposition of Power. — The speaker must 
completely absorb his work. This will leave him free to 
maintain control over his audience. 

Third Proposition of Power. — The absorption of the 
work must be continued till it produces a clear picture in 
the brain. The brain is a camera, and concentrates an im- 
mense range of vision on one little point. The photograph 
on the brain of the audience cannot be clearer than the 
negative in the brain of the speaker. 

Fourth Proposition of Power. The picture in the 
mind of the speaker should be transmitted to the audience. 
This cannot be done unless the speaker establishes har- 
monious relations between himself and his audience. Un- 
responsive relations exhaust the speaker and depress the 
audience; a congenial interchange of spirit is exhilarating 
both to the audience and to the speaker. When an orator 
has gained absolute control over his audience he can sway 
it according to his will. Orators use their power of mak- 
ing strong pictures in their own brain to drive out every- 
thing in the brain of the audience except the desired men- 
tal picture; Patrick Henry even drove out the judges of 
the court. 

When a speaker is in control of his audience, he will 
feel what he is saying; when the audience does not respond 
and its interest lags, the speaker will feel that he is speak- 
ing only to a confusion of fine sounds all around him. The 
speaker who merely recites his work, or speaks with a lack 
of feeling, will never be able to impress anything upon an 
audience. 



132 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Magnetic conditions are the connecting link between 
the speaker and his audience. Speakers who lack magnet- 
ism are neutral, and neither repel nor attract. 

There are three propositions of power also in the ap- 
plication of magnetism: i, magnetism should be devel- 
oped and stored ; 2, the collected magnetism should be pre- 
served and increased; no erratic movements and auto- 
matic habits should be permitted to diminish it; 3, mag- 
netism should be stimulated in its growth by being used. 

Three things aid in the application of magnetism: i, 
good judgment ; 2, policy, or tact and pleasing methods ; 3, 
agreement with an opponent. These principles should be 
applied at every opportunity. Good judgment is required 
in the use of voice and action and the treatment of the sub- 
ject. Pleasing methods avoid irritating actions and a mo- 
notonous use of the voice. Agreement adjusts itself to the 
disposition and mood of an audience till an entering wedge 
can be found. No speaker should ever challenge an audi- 
ence by suggesting in his manner that he considers himself 
above his audience. 



CHAPTER THREE. 



THE PICTURE. 



Value of Pictures. 



Three things are of great value in expression: i, a 
good and well-modulated voice; 2, ready and responsive 
action; 3, the pov^er of seeing in the brain what the voice 
and the action are to portray. 

A mental picture is a clear conception in the mind of 
the speaker of the scene which he desires to depict. The 
outlines of the whole speech and of the various scenes in 
the speech should be fixed in the mind of the speaker as 
distinct pictures. Details require special attention. The 
speaker must see all the details of a scene as clearly as a 
painting. The mind must see in a few seconds as much as 
an artist would paint in several months. The mental pic- 
ture should be as complete as the finished picture of an 
artist. 

The speaker who sees in his own mind a clearly de- 
fined picture of the thought which he is uttering will in 
every case irresistibly impress it upon his hearers. 

Mental pictures serve to create ideas, ideas serve to 
create words, and words serve to create fluency of speech. 

Mental Vision. 

Mental vision is the faculty which forms mental pic- 
tures in the mind of the speaker. Mental vision should be 
cultivated. 



134 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Mental vision should develop its pictures gradually. 
The picture should never be forced or thrust upon the 
mind. The details of the picture should be developed in 
cumulative order by a frequent repetition of the Hues. The 
words should be reviewed with a formulating mind till the 
picture is clearly seen in all its details and its proper set- 
ting. 

Mental vision must be alert to recognize and visualize 
the details, characters and objects in a picture. Only the 
keenest use of the senses can bring out the little incidents 
of a picture. The brain must actually see the details of 
the picture. The speaker must be able to evolve scene 
after scene in his mind, and to co-ordinate the various 
scenes into one effect. The same process is involved in 
the development of ideas, which might be called thought 
scenes. Mere oratorical mentality does not impress an 
audience. Audiences are as a rule swayed not by objective 
argumentation but by the imagination and the feeling 
which an orator puts into his words. 

What the mental eye sees in a picture depends on the 
artistic sense of the speaker. Some persons see only the 
facts stated by the words, others see a world of meaning 
in the words. None but amateurs follow the suggestion 
of the uttered words. Orators have the great gift of inven- 
tion. Unless a man fully knows and understands his sub- 
ject, he will not be able to speak on it. Without a knowl- 
edge of the subject, the knowledge of the words will be 
worthless. The more closely a man sees his subject and 
his object, the better he will speak. 

Mental vision is an aid to gestures. When a mental 
picture of a scene, an idea, a thought has been fully elab- 
orated, the gestures will come freely and spontaneously. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 135 

Aritstic expression does not require the elaboration of ges- 
tures. 

A flowing series of mental conceptions is one of the 
best cures for a halting voice. The speaker should always 
see with his mind, and his eyes should be kept steady by 
his mental vision. The emphatic ideas should receive the 
mental vision. 

The following exercises may serve to illustrate what 
is meant by mental vision, (i) Develop a complete picture 
of a ship and all its parts. Shut the eyes, and let the out- 
lines deepen. (2) Repeat the words, "A wonderful stream 
is the river time," and see a stream in boldest relief. (3) 
Repeat the line, "Friends, Romans, countrymen," and see 
the faces and costumes of the Romans whom Marcus An- 
tonius is addressing. 

Illusion. 

Mental vision creates pictures in the mind of the 
speaker. The picture created by the speaker in the mind 
of the audience is called an illusion. The mental vision 
should by its picture produce an illusion. It is as difficult 
to create an illusion as to produce a picture in the mind. 

The picture force of the brain of the speaker conveys 
the scenes to the mind of the audience by a species of vocal 
telegraphy. The brain may be called a wireless telegraph 
station which receives and transmits mental pictures 
through an indescribable inner ether which pervades the 
air. Suggestion and thought transference play an impor- 
tant part in assisting the orator, but, after all, it is very 
probable that electric life flows out in some mysterious 
manner from the speaker to the audience. The mental 
pictures of the brain are transmitted to others by nerve 



136 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

power. The work of the speaker either creates an illusion 
or gives the audience time to create it. 

Unless the picture in the mind of the speaker is clear 
in all its details, the illusion in the mind of the audience 
will be cloudy. The picture should be placed before the 
audience in such a way that the illusion produced will be 
accepted as a reality. The actor Talma made Napoleon 
forget that he saw only acting. A genius can conjure up 
illusions in the brain of the audience even when the words 
are inadequate. 

The speaker who desires to create an illusion in the 
mind of an audience must lose all consciousness of himself 
and of his audience, and must have only the affirmative 
consciousness of the scene which he presents. If he is not 
conscious of the scene, the words will leave him. He must 
place himself into the scene, and see it all around him; the 
carpet must be grass, the walls trees, etc. He must, how- 
ever, make his work appear natural. 

The illusion must reproduce the mental and the ner- 
vous state of the speaker. The illusion should be alive 
with emotion. The Bible is very rich in great scenes. The 
story of the prodigal son, of Christ's miracles, of Christ's 
suffering, death and resurrection, of St. Paul preaching on 
Mars Hill are more thrilling than anything in human lit- 
erature. The details of the scenes should be worked out 
first; then the mental and the emotional interest should be 
developed and reproduced in such a way that the audi- 
ence must see and feel what the speaker sees and feels. 
The work must not be an imitation; it must be real. 

Dramatic scenes should not be rendered as pieces of 
oratory. A troubled and foaming ocean should be made 
to live again. A storm should not be an ordinary drizzle. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 137 

If the audience fails to see the storm readily, the words of 
the description should be uttered with less speed. The 
audience will catch and follow the ideas and feelings of the 
speaker who is alive to his work. 

The eyes play an important part in creating an illusion. 
In subjective work, the eyes behold the scene which is being 
depicted, and never leave the scene to look at the audience ; in 
objective work, the eye never leaves the audience, but tells the 
audience all the objects and details of the scene. Three things 
should be remembered concerning the expressive use of the 
eyes: i, the eye should never be used without expressive 
meaning; 2, the eye should never wander or be restless; 3, in 
subjective work, the eye should follow the picture, and never 
address itself directly to the audience. 

The imaginary details of a descriptive portrayal must 
often be abandoned as the story advances. A recitation 
may in the first stanzas portray a maiden as having flowers 
in her hand and in the end represent her as having a dagger 
in her hand. 

The picture, mental vision and the illusion should be 
used whenever it is possible to do so. 



CHAPTER FOUR. 



EMOTIONAL COLORS. 



Breaking the Crust. 

Children employ all the arts of expression. In course 
of time, however, their natural powers of emotional ex- 
pression become covered with a crust because they habitu- 
ally seek to hide their feelings from view. The power of 
expression in most grown persons is therefore very limited. 

There are three crusts which must be broken to make 
artistic expression possible : the emotional, the intellectual 
and the physical. 

The emotional crust is easily broken by exercises in 
emotional work. Practice in the expression of the emotions 
opens the inner nature of man and permits it to burst 
through the enveloping outer circle of ordinary interest. 

The intellectual crust interferes very much with facial 
expression. Some intellectual giants are like owls in their 
facial expression. The crust can be broken by a general 
training in expression. 

Physical restraints are removed by physical training. 

The speaker should not give way to his feelings. A 
complete exhibition of feeling interferes with expression. 
Quiet colors are hard to get. Great strength is required 
to tone down the feelings in artistic expression. A clergy- 
man may let his eyes fill with tears at a funeral, but he 
must not actually cry. A lawyer would not increase the 
thrilling powder of a pathetic case by dropping tears on the 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 139 

floor and indulging in copious weeping; the opposing coun- 
selor might make a motion to have the roof examined to 
ascertain whether it be capable of standing the strain of 
the leaking. 

Expression may be concentric, excentric and neutral. 
Concentric expression knits the expression together. The 
outward expression of feeling should as a rule decrease as 
the intensity increases. The expression should, however, 
never become weak. Excentric expression is wild in char- 
acter and flies out from the center of control. The man 
who is very loud in his grief will not die broken-hearted; 
true grief is deep and quiet. 

Emotional Color. 

Emotional tone color should be distinguished from 
mental tone color. Mental tone color shows mental inter- 
est; emotional color shows feeling. Mental tone colors 
were described in the last chapter on objective voice. 

When the nerves are on fire with emotion, the 
nervous feeling will be reflected in the tones of the voice. 
The color of the voice changes with the emotions. Sick 
people have a sick voice, etc. The emotional effects in 
the voice may be aided by a proper use of the face, the 
eyes, the attitude and the actions. 

Emotional color in the voice comes only by practice 
and appears more in effect than in expression. The de- 
sired emotional color must be approached in such a way 
that it will gradually dawn on the mind. The emotional 
expression of the voice must come from the effort of the 
soul to go out into the expression of the tones of the voice. 
Emotional colors cannot be forced either in the feelings 
or in the voice. The difficulties in emotional expression 



140 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

are increased by the fact that many renditions are possible 
for each emotion. 

There are as many emotional colors as emotions and 
passions. The voice should be able to play on the emo- 
tions, and in the emotions, as on a thousand-souled instru- 
ment. The development of emotional colors should be the 
chief v^ork in expression. The v^hole art of expression 
may be learned through the emotional colors. 

The use of emotional tone colors is especially valu- 
able to ministers. Ministers must weep with those that 
weep and rejoice with those that rejoice. On Good Fri- 
day they must feel the solemnity of the sad scenes. On 
Easter they must exult in victory. At funerals they must 
be sorrowful, at weddings they must feel happy. Every 
ministerial act requires some emotional color. 

The emotional colors should be carefully distinguished 
in practice ; each emotion should stand out as a separate 
thing. The emotional colors will then serve to develop 
the emotions. In speaking, the emotional colors should be 
distinct, yet each color should harmonize with the others 
as beautifully as the many shades of green blend into each 
other in a forest. Emotional effect should depend chiefly 
upon delicate shading in emotional work, and not on strong 
vocal changes. Lights and shadows must be used to set 
oE the various emotions. In practice, however, the differ- 
ent colors should be compared till the voice can give each 
emotional color in a distinctive way. 

Ten Passions. 

The following ten passions may be used for practice 
as emotional centres around which other emotions may be 
grouped and developed. The colors are : love, hate, hope, 
grief, pride, shame, resolution, fear, excitement, depres- 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 141 

sion. Each quotation should be repeated many times with 
full emotional color and expressive action. Each quota- 
tion may be interpreted in various ways. This is the only 
way in which the emotional crust can be broken. 

Love. — "And when night came, amidst the breathless 
heavens, we'd guess what star should be our home when 
love becomes immortal." 

The lover, Claude Melnotte, may be represented as 
standing with his left arm over the back of the chair on 
which Pauline sits and his right hand pointing to the 
stars. His voice is full of ideal love. On the word "heav- 
ens", he steps forward, and his outstretched arm sweeps 
toward the right. On the words "our home," he looks at 
Pauline. The words "what star" are uttered with great 
intensity. On the word "immortal", his hand rises up 
over his head, pointing to the sky. This rendition is 
merely an illustration; other renditions should be used. 

Hate. — "If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will 
feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him." 

These words are uttered by Shylock. His looks and 
his voice are full of hate. He may be portrayed either by 
attitude or by action. In the attitude, he might be seen 
standing still with clenched fists, wicked eyes and his body 
turned slightly away from his gaze. In action, he may be 
presented by bending forward and clutching the enemy 
with the hands. Some interpreters consider Shylock a 
lofty wronged man, others depict him as a violent mon- 
ster. The voice should be subdued. The words should be 
repeated at first in an ordinary way; feeling and action 
should be added gradually. 

Hope. — "Ah, well ! for us all some sweet hope lies, 
deeply buried from human eyes." 



142 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

These words moralize. The eyes may be raised to 
look upward. The right hand may be used in an objective 
gesture referring to the sky on the words "sweet hope". 

Grief. — "I have been patient with my Maker, but this 
grief is far too great for me to bear." 

The voice should use the dark form and the intermit- 
tent stress. 

Pride. — "Behold it! Listen to it! Every star has a 
tongue; every stripe is articulate." 

This refers to the national flag. The words should be 
rendered in bright form, orotund timbre and thorough 
stress. 

Shame. — "To be now a sensible man, by and by a fool, 
and presently a beast." — Othello. 

These words are uttered by Cassio. Shame depresses 
the head and relaxes the main lines of the body. On the 
first phrase, Cassio depresses the head slightly; on the sec- 
ond, a little more ; on the third, very much. The voice de- 
scends in pitch as the body relaxes. Every word is spoken 
in the radical stress. In dignified shame, the head only 
leans forward. 

A slave kneeling before Cleopatra in abject shame 
would lean far forward and finally fall prostrate. Physical 
cowardice, however, does not imply moral and intellectual 
cowardice. 

A scriptural instance of shame is found in the story of 
the prodigal son. 

Resolution. — "They'd rob me of my daughter, would 
they? Let them try it." 

These words of Shylock are a good exercise for the 
development of magnetism in the voice. The rendition 
should be very quiet, deep and intense. In an attitude, 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 143 

the arms may be folded, and the chest may be held out. 
The words should be shaded with delicate lights and 
shadows. In action, Shylock first expresses the informa- 
tion which he has received; then he steps back, folds his 
arms and says, "Let them try it." If other action is used, 
the rendition should not be erratic; the arms should not 
fly through the air; the voice should not be loud; the limit 
of determination should not be overstepped. The fists 
may be clenched while the words are being uttered. The 
work may be overdone only for the purpose of breaking 
the emotional crust. The words should never be de- 
claimed. 

Fear. — "Whence is that knocking? How is it with 
me, when every noise appalls me." 

The words are preceded by a gasp. The hand clutches 
at the heart. The second half of the quotation is spoken 
in the usual tone of the voice. 

Excitement. — "Away on a hot chase down the wind. 
But never was fox-hunt half so hard, and never was horse 
so little spared, for we rode our lives !" 

This should be rendered in rapid time, bright form,, 
high pitch and a climax of pitch and force on "lives". 

Depression. — "Nay, take my life and all; pardon not 
that." 

This is slow, low, dark and intermittent. 

Erratic Passion. 

Violent passions are excentric, and have a tendency 
to use a loud voice and violent actions. In proportion as 
the body depicts uncontrolled passion, the feet, hands, fin- 
gers and arms fly out from the body. Yet even the most 
excentric expression requires some restraint. No interpre- 
tation should fully reproduce what the words and the feel- 



144 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

ings suggest. A rough, violent and erratic exhibition of 
passion is inartistic even when it is natural. Expression 
should never overstep the limits of artistic taste. 

Passional Reservation. — The voice is best used in the 
expression of passion when it approaches its limit of force 
without reaching it. All deep feeling is subdued. The 
greatest self-control is necessary in the strongest work. 
The best speakers show the most repose in their work and 
appearance. The great actor Garrick merely moved his 
lips in expressing his awe at the appearance of the ghost 
in Hamlet. The deeper the feeling, the quieter the voice. 



CHAPTER FIVE. 



VOICE SUMMITS. 



Proportion. 

The law of principality demands that there should be 
only one leading idea in every selection or oration and 
all other ideas should be subordinated to the leading idea. 
The attention is distracted when the minor details are en- 
larged and the central idea cannot be followed in an easy 
and rational manner from the beginning to the end. The 
various points of interest should not receive more than 
their due proportion of interest. 

Every strong literary production should have an in- 
teresting climax built not only on a gradual increase in in- 
teresting thought but also on a growing intensity of emor 
tion. One of the most striking defects in speakers and 
readers is the inability to present climaxes artistically. 
The speaker must husband and distribute his resources in 
such a manner that when the moment of greatest interest 
is reached he will have suiBcient power to produce the de- 
sired effect. The end must be kept in view from the very 
beginning. 

Climacteric Voice. 

There are many kinds of climaxes in expression. The 
most popular climaxes are in force, pitch, energy, intensity 
and action. 

Climaxes require a careful management of the voice; 
the voice should not be jerky. Amateurs usually end a 



146 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

climax by straining the voice. The voice may rise within 
ninety-nine per cent of its highest reach, but beyond that 
the effort will end in a collapse. A speaker should not be 
an impassioned ranter. Spectacular climaxes are inar- 
tistic. 

Climaxes in action should be in harmony with the 
vocal climax. Action reaches its climax when it ap- 
proaches an attitude large in its picture effect and limited 
in its movements. 

A mere increase of force, or loudness, is not a good 
climax. A climax in force should be accompanied by an 
increase of intensity and energy. Intensity becomes 
stronger when the force is subdued. The best climaxes use 
very little force. 

A rising pitch and an increasing energy of force, op- 
erating together in rapid time, produce the vocal climax of 
excitement. This may be seen in the following lines, used 
in the last chapter, which employ rapid time and end in a 
climax of pitch and force. 

"Away on a hot chase down the wind. But never was 
fox-hunt half so hard, and never was horse so little spared, 
for we rode our lives !" 

Exercise — Climax in Pitch and Force. — A climax in 
pitch and force should not contain more than thirty words. 
The following quotation from Rienzi's Address contains 
a fine climax in pitch and force. The word "either" is em- 
phatic. There should be a pause before "I swear." The 
word "shall" takes a strong, downward slide in the voice. 
The climax is on free. 

"And once again — hear me, ye walls that echoed to the 
tread of either Brutus ! — once again I swear the Eternal 
City shall be free." 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 147 

Exercise — Climax in Pitch, Force and Intensity. — In 

the following line, the voice shall rise swiftly in pitch, force 
and intensity to the word "lied". 
"Lord Angus, thou hast lied." 

Exercise — Climax in Force, Energy and Intensity. — 

An increasing succession of force, energy and intensity, in 
voice, action and feeling, when skillfully handled is the 
summit of climacteric expression. Force is loudness; en- 
ergy is solidity of voice ; intensity is fire or tension in the 
voice; these three may be combined and increased within 
themselves into a climax of irresistible force. Pitch may 
be added to this triple climax. 

The following grand selection from Webster should 
be practiced as a splendid climax in force, energy and in- 
tensity. The voice should be voluminous or orotund. The 
pitch should be varied. The radical stress should be used. 
The climax is reached on the "and" between Liberty and 
Union. 

"When my eyes shall be turned to behold, for the last 
time, the sun in heaven, may I not see him shining on 
the broken and dishonored fragments of a once glorious 
union; on states dissevered, discordant, beUigerent; on a 
land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may be, in fra- 
ternal blood ! Let their last feeble and lingering glance 
rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic, now 
known and honored throughout the earth, still 'full high 
advanced' ; — its arms and trophies streaming in their orig- 
inal lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star 
obscured — bearing for its motto, no such miserable inter- 
rogatory as 'What is all this worth?' nor those other 
words of delusion and folly, 'Liberty first and Union after- 
wards', — but everywhere, spread all over in characters of 



148 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float 
over the sea and over the land, and in every wind under 
the whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true 
American heart, — Liberty and Union, now and forever, one 
and inseparable.'* 

Expressive Slide. 

The expressive slide is a long downward slide of the 
voice. The short expressive slide slides the voice from the 
middle to the lowest pitch on a single syllable or word; 
the long expressive slide slides the voice downward from 
the highest to the lowest pitch on one or more words. Ex- 
pressive slides impart a powerful expressive movement to 
the voice. 

Exercise — Short Expressive Slide. — Use the short ex- 
pressive slide in the following quotations. 

"Liberty and Union." The word "and" is emphatic, 
and takes the slide ; the voice begins the word in the middle 
pitch and slides it down with a solid voice into a low pitch. 

"The eternal city shall be free." The voice of Rienzi 
gradually rises to the word "shall"; the voice then turns 
and falls in this word from the middle pitch to the lowest. 
The last word may be uttered in a loud high pitch. 

Exercise — Long Expressive Slide. — This slide falls 
from the highest to the lowest pitch on one or more words. 
Practice the following lines. 

"I'd launch the curse of Rome." The voice should fall 
from a high pitch to the middle pitch on the word "curse", 
and from the middle to the low pitch on the word "Rome". 

"The aliens blanched." The upper half of the slide 
should fall on "ahens", the lower on "blanched". 

"I will be forced to die." The voice should fall in 
full range of pitch on the word "forced". 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 149 

Thunderbursts. 

Thunderbursts in the use of the voice are sudden tre- 
mendous explosions of tone. A thunderburst is climacteric 
when its approach is unexpected. Thunderbursts are used 
chiefly to produce startling effects. The voice should not 
use all its force in a thunderburst. 

Exercise. — Parts of the following quotations may be 
used for thunderbursts in the voice. 

"He has done the murder. No eye has seen him, no 
ear has heard him. The secret is his own, and it is safe !'* 
In these sentences, Webster's voice dropped and died away 
nearly to nothing. Then followed a bolt of lightning in the 
words, "Ah ! gentlemen, that was a dreadful mistake." 
Then Webster yelled, "Such a secret can be safe nowhere. 
The whole creation of God has neither nook nor corner 
where the guilty can bestow it and say it is safe.'* This 
startling thunderburst paralyzed the audience. 

In the magnificent oration by the entrancing orator 
R. S. Shiel on the "Irish Aliens and English Victories," the 
stately flow of the wonderful oratory brings the audience 
to a tremendous realization of the false accusation that 
the Irish were aliens. The orator points to the fact that 
these "aliens" had, under Wellington, hurled back the 
legions of Napoleon. His voice rolls on with irresistible 
climacteric force, and finally bursts out into a terrific thun- 
derburst on the words: — 

"Tell me, if, for an instant, when to hesitate for an 
instant was to be lost, the aliens blanched." 

On the word "aliens", the voice should glide upward 
on the first syllable and then immediately turn downward 
with an expressive slide from the high to the middle pitch. 
The voice should render the word "blanched" with ter- 



ISO VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

rific force and a slide from the middle to the lowest pitch 
in one second. 

Steady Onbeat. 

The steady onbeat of the voice is an irresistible and in- 
creasing flow of powerful language which goes steadily on, 
without a pause, and at the same time increases its power 
and intensity. Every syllable should push onward with 
impetuous power. The steady onbeat is like the increasing 
headway of a great steamship. The onbeat of the voice 
reveals an irresistible flow of power. 

The onbeat must begin quietly. All the muscles of 
the body should be held tense. The momentum of the 
words must constantly increase. A loss of control would 
destroy the onbeat. The feeling must be held in check like 
chained lightning and at the same time gradually be let out 
without any loss by diffusion. 

Exercise i. — The following description of eloquence 
by Webster is a fine example of the steady onbeat in the 
voice. 

"The clear conception, outrunning the deductions of 
logic, the high purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless 
spirit, speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eyes, in- 
forming every feature, and urging the whole man onward 
right onward to his object — this, this is eloquence; or, 
rather, it is something greater and higher than all elo- 
quence, it is action, noble, sublime, godlike action.'* 

The voice reaches its climax on the word "action"; 
this word should be in the eighth pitch, nearly at the top 
of the voice. The three following words form a cadence ; 
"noble" should be in the sixth, "sublime" in the third, and 
"godlike" in the first, or lowest, pitch. The voice should 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 151 

not be excited. Action involves the mind, the soul and 
the body. 

Exercise 2. — Render the following quotation with a 
steady onbeat. 

"On the earl's cheek the flush of rage o'ercame the 
ashen hue of age. Fierce broke he forth." 

The voice should rise in pitch and energy to the word 
"o'ercame", then it should fall to the end of the first sen- 
tence. "O'ercame" is emphatic and loud. The word 
"fierce" should be given in very high pitch, very strong 
force and a falling high glide. The last words are spoken 
rapidly. 

Cadence. 

Cadences are the opposite of climaxes. Cadences let 
the voice fall away gradually for the purpose of imparting 
a finish to the ending of well-rounded sentences by dimin- 
ishing the force, lowering the pitch and decreasing the 
speed of the voice. Cadences usually fall from three to 
seven syllables. 

Exercise i. — The Seminole's Reply ends with a cad- 
ence on the last six words. Cadences must not be sung. 

"But I'll swim the sea of slaughter till I sink beneath 
its wave." 

Exercise 2. — The following quotation contains both a 
climax and a cadence. The voice rises in pitch and force 
from the beginning to the word joy, after that it falls in a 
cadence of five words to a low pitch. The word thunder 
should have a rising glide; the word eternal should have 
a falling glide. The thorough stress and the orotund 
timbre should be used. 

"Who gave you your invulnerable life, your strength. 



152 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

your speed, your fury and your joy, unceasing thunder and 
eternal foam?" 

Glide Lengths. 

Singing is the utterance of sounds without either ris- 
ing or falling glides; it creates feeling, but does not make 
people think. Chanting is a cross between speaking and 
singing which shortens and shifts the tones without using 
any glide ; it has feeling rather than thought. Intoning is a 
cross between speaking and chanting which makes a par- 
tial use of glides. The drawl is due to a lack of glides in 
the voice. 

Glides give meaning to the tones of the voice. In 
speaking, the words are uttered with short glides. The in- 
crease of glide length in a word increases its amount of 
meaning; the meaning develops in proportion to the length 
of the glides. Convincing argumentation uses strong 
glides. 

The voice is at its best in childhood. Children nat- 
urally use glides in their voice. The glides in the voices 
of children are destroyed in school by monotonous glide- 
less unison in reading, speaking and reciting. Teachers 
should express the meaning of spelled words in glides. 

Strong ghdes may be developed by practice in the 
use of double glides. The four ordinary glides were de- 
scribed in a former chapter. Double glides rise and fall or 
fall and rise on one tone. In saying "excuse me," the 
voice rises and falls on the last syllable of "excuse". The 
falling side of the double glides should be developed more 
than the rising side. The ear should be trained to follow 
the glide lengths until they can be regulated according to 
the full sense of the thought. 

Exercise. — The following glides should be practiced in 
the vowel "ah" etc.. and in suitable words. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 153 

The double rising high glide, which falls and rises in 
the high register, is used in words to express surprise and 
doubt, and to suggest an antithesis. The glide begins in a 
high pitch, falls to the middle pitch and then rises again 
to its initial pitch. 

Say, ''I fail?" with this glide on each word. 

The double falling high glide, which rises and falls in 
the high register, is used to express petulance, arrogance, 
triumph, pride, and strong elements. The glide begins in 
the middle pitch, rises and then falls again. 

Say, ''Oh, is that all?" with this glide on three of the 
words. 

The double rising low glide is used for mockery, warn- 
ing and for suggesting contrasts; it begins in the middle 
pitch, falls and rises again. 

Illustration: — "What is this? Proud, — and I thank 
you, — and I thank you not; — and yet not proud?" 

The double falling low glide is used for grandeur, 
strong decision, conclusion and emphasis; it rises and falls 
in the low register. This glide should be practiced very 
much. 

Use this glide on the word ''grandly" in saying, "Oh, 
grandly flowing river." 

Triple glides have a triple action. The triple rising 
high glide rises, falls and rises in the high register; it is 
used for excessive warning, great surprise and dramatic 
expression. — The same glide action may be used in the 
lower half of the voice. 

A triple rising high glide may be used in each one of 
of the following words: "Oh, I'll be patient." The voice 
rises, falls and rises again in the high register on each word. 



CHAPTER SIX. 



PERSONALITY. 

Veilue of Personality. 

The personality of the speaker is one half of the genius of 
good speaking. 

Artistic expression can never be greater than the character 
or personality of the speaker. Orators and reciters cannot put 
any more into their words than they have in themselves. Ora- 
torical success cannot be borrowed from others. 

Personality in speaking is of a dual character. The 
speaker should have a working and a governing personality. 
The working personality does the work of speaking; the gov- 
erning personality, however, governs the audience, supplies the 
oratorical material, gauges the effect produced and controls 
every action. This governing work proceeds from the cere- 
brum, or thinking brain ; the cerebellum is the working brain. 
Strenuous efforts should be made to strengthen the governing 
personality. Great orators step into a third personality which 
is sub-conscious, intuitive and inspired. This personality alone 
creates new things. This is not clairvoyancy. When this per- 
sonality is aroused, a new realm of mental activity is opened 
up. 

Genius springs from an inner creative world. Great ora- 
tions are produced only when the mind is in a creative mood. 
A strong personality will resist all outside influences and de- 
pend on itself. The mind grows strong only when it is com- 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 155 

pelled to act. A productive mind will not take on cargo all 
the time, but will try to unload its ideas. Aggressive activity 
alone is productive. Many lives are limited because they never 
take the initiative. 

Few persons have the persistency and tremendous deter- 
mination to develop their personality. Personality cannot 
grow when a man is languid instead of being active and alert. 
Genuine hard work makes the nerves, bones, muscles and 
sinews strong. Genius makes its conditions even when diversity 
of conditions seems to make genius. Character must be built 
up by conscious effort. Strong characters climb over others 
by using them as stepping stones; and there are great masses 
of such stones to climb on. Opposition and detraction should 
be treated as sure signs of success. 

The orator should balance the use of the faculties. Un- 
balanced use produces softening of the brain. Excessive single 
use leads to paresis. Non-use results in atrophy. 

Some men are physical, some are emotional, some are in- 
tellectual. A balanced character has uniform control of all his 
powers. 

Some speakers think out everything; some are so deter- 
mined in the use of will-power that the ceiling drops ; some are 
wild with emotion. It takes three such fellows to make a man. 

Nobility. 

Nobility of character is a great aid to a speaker. The voice 
cannot be grand unless it is based on grand thoughts and feel- 
ings. 

It is, however, also true that the use of the voice in the ex- 
pression of great literary masterpieces will react on the char- 
acter and kindle noble thoughts and impulses. The sublime in 



156 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

nature and in the transactions of life elevates human character. 
Great sentences should be repeated with energy of thought till 
the mind and the heart rebound under the generous impulse. 
An orator should recite aloud whatever may enrich bis mind. 
A Wfebsterian orator would recite Webster's orations. This 
practice develops reflective genius which is not as great as crea- 
tive genius. 

Voice culture will not develop the character unless the 
work is done in solitude. Solitude shuts out foreign influences. 
Men will have time enough for such work if they will save the 
hours which usually are wasted. The orator especially should 
live in an inner mental world. 

The orator should study and assimilate only the gems 
which are found in great orations. These gems are absorbed 
when they are used vocally. The great masterpieces of ora- 
tory are famous not in their entirety, but only in the sublime 
gems of thought with which they are studded. Edward Ever- 
ett declared that the absorption of great thoughts is the surest 
and quickest means of building up a strong character. 

Careful and slow practice, even on obscure literary selec- 
tions, will develop personality. Amateur reciters look for great 
pieces ; men of great ability love to develop weak pieces and de- 
velop themselves at the same time. Many a dull and appar- 
ently uninteresting piece becomes fascinating in the hands of a 
skillful reciter or a man of very strong personality. 

The temperament should be suited to the exercises. The 
student should at first select only such selections for practice 
which require a temperament like his own. When that work 
can be done, the temperament should be changed only by a 
gradual accommodation to selections which require only a 
slight change of temperament. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 157 

Collective Strength. 

A strong attitude of the body is indicative of a strong per- 
sonality. A strong attitude requires the union of the follow- 
ing parts : firm limbs, erect spinal column, full chest, firm neck, 
clenched hands, depressed brows and elevated head. 

This collective representation of strength in one attitude 
gives the body its full exhibition of power. The legs should 
be firm, reasonably near together, and not sprung forward or 
back ; the free limb, which is momentarily without the weight, 
should be relaxed and slightly, but not visibly, bent. The 
spinal column should be erect in order to take the curvature out 
of the spine, and prevent the body from bending. The full 
chest should be thrown forward; a full chest depicts courage, 
pride, grandeur and sublimity. The shoulders should be drawn 
down, not back. The head should be elevated in a lofty carri- 
age. The neck should be firm in order to forward or sideward 
lolling of the head. 

The clenched hand indicates resolution. The depressed 
brows show firmness ; they should be held down, but should not 
be drawn together into a frown. When the brows are held 
high, they indicate weakness or lack of character. A mean 
man carries the corners of the mouth down ; a flighty and shal- 
low character carries them up. 

Coordination. 

The spontaneous execution of subjective expression de- 
pends upon the coordinating powers of the cerebellum, and is 
the outgrowth of careful rehearsal. The secret of success in 
this respect lies in intelligent experience. The mind, the 
muscles and the nerves may be trained to coordinate properly 
by executing a desired action with exactitude a great many 
times. Coordination in action requires coordination in 



158 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

thought. Rehearsals train the cerebellum to execute the ideas 
correctly. 

Coordination unites all the parts of the body to work to- 
gether harmoniously under one impulse. The hand cannot 
throw a ball with a perfect aim unless there is a perfect coor- 
dination of the action of the feet, limbs, hips, waist, chest, 
shoulders, arm and hand. The cerebellum must direct the 
muscles to work together. A speaker cannot speak and act 
with expressive power unless he is able to coordinate all the 
faculties of expression. Perfect coordination can be acquired 
only by practice. 

Coordination in voice culture is the result of intelligent 
practice. A blind and unintelligent use of the voice, and the 
body is not a growing experience. A speaker will not become 
a better speaker simply by making speeches. Conscious effort 
alone produces progress in expression. A true orator is very 
anxious to improve with each experience. 

Rehearsals are beneficial when they are performed intelli- 
gently. The rehearsing should be carried on patiently to the 
point of drudgery. Hard work does not wear out the facul- 
ties, but draws nutrition to them even when they have been 
strained to the utmost. Exhaustion is succeeded by renewed 
and increased strength. The man who has more to do than he 
can do is fortunate. The speaker should tax his powers of en- 
durance by intelligent, patient and progressive work. 

The speaker should not utter the words too readily. The 
audience must have time to see that the speaker is thinking. 
The words must, however, not be obstructed with faults. The 
simple desire to communicate thought will result in agreeable 
directness. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 159 

Power of Readiness. 

The rendition, both of extempore productions and of the 
thoughts of others, should be so thoroughly spontaneous that 
no effort is required in executing it. Even the most talented 
speakers fail to use this principle, and usually seem to feel out 
with the mind for what is to come next. 

The speaker should carefully prepare himself for his 
work. He should read his words aloud in order to catch the 
phonation of the sounds. The vocal swing of the language, 
especially that of the beginning and of the end, should be 
caught. The meaning of the thoughts should be stamped on 
the voice. The situation and its requirements should be keenly 
appreciated. 

Although it is true that the lines must be well prepared,, 
it is also true that the mind must not be hampered with an ef- 
fort to recollect the ideas and the words. The speaker will 
have trouble if he is compelled to grope for what he is going 
to say. If manuscripts are put into the pocket instead of be- 
ing left at home, the mind will wander into the pocket. 

The speaker must not use an audience for the purpose of 
exhibiting himself. An audience should never know that a 
speaker has had special training and that his power is not 
spontaneous. The speaker should never let anybody know 
that he studies his art. Exercises are stepping stones, and 
should not be practiced before an audience. There should not 
even be any coaching. When the training is completed, the 
helps and exercises should be thrown aside. True genius is 
self-reliant. 

The speaker who has worked faithfully in preparing him- 
self should never think of his voice in his public work. The 
only constant side-thought in speaking should be to hold the 



i6o VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

throat open. The speaker must let himself go. The ability to 
let go is the result of training. 

The ability of a speaker reveals itself when it is unex- 
pectedly called on to perform some great task. The speaker 
should therefore be ready for such work. Webster was ready 
long before he delivered his great reply to Hayne. 

New Habits. 

After sufficient drill in the principles of objective and sub- 
jective voice and action, the mind and the body should be 
trained to entirely leave these principles behind and to depend 
upon the new habits based upon them. The object of the 
whole course of training in the art of expression is the making 
of new habits in the art of expression. The idea must be un- 
done that the exercises are to be the work. 

Good habits provide a general foundation for successful 
work. A balanced nature is a great aid in public speaking. 
Not only the voice but also the heart, the mind and the soul 
should be cultivated. 

The heart should be charitable and generous in judging 
others. Stratagem, fads, low humor, flippancy, sulkiness, ex- 
cesses, sarcasm, obstinacy, profanity, slang and flattery should 
be eschewed. Refinement, dignity, kindness, self-control and 
optimism should be cultivated. 

The mind should be developed as much as possible. The 
speaker needs the magnetism of a strong intellect. Years spent 
in the acquisition of knowledge are not spent in vain. 

The orator should possess a rich supply of representative 
thoughts and quotations which may serve to embellish his own 
efforts. The gems of literature should be freely absorbed. 
Great authors, such as Shakespeare, Milton and Macauley 
should be carefully studied. Biography, history and poetry 
should not be neglected. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. i6i 

The great living leaders of men should be seen, heard 
and studied. 

The Bible should be read and believed. The greatest ora- 
tors and writers have been profoundly moved and influenced 
by the Bible. 

Training should never cease. 



CHAPTER SEVEN. 



INDIVIDUALITIES. 



Definition of Individuality. 

Individuality consists of advantageous peculiarities or 
characteristic v^ays of doing things. Peculiarities stamped 
with personal power or charms are attractive and should be 
developed. Peculiarities that detract from power or personal 
charms are mannerisms, and should be avoided. Faults, such 
as hesitation in speech, drawling, mouthing, mumbling, sway- 
ing, scowling, etc., are offensive and should be eliminated one 
by one. 

Vowel Changes. 

Some individualities are marked by peculiar vowel 
changes. A single vowel may establish a peculiar individual- 
ity. One character may flatter the vowels in psalm, calm, etc., 
another may add a "y" to words, as in "gyirl, gyarden, etc." 

Consonant Changes. 

Some individualities are marked by peculiar changes in 
consonants. Stuttering and stammering are simple peculiari- 
ties in speech. Negroes elide consonants in their words. Eng- 
lishmen have trouble with the "h" sound. Some people drop 
the final ''g" in words, as in "goin, walkin." Some characters 
lisp. Two peculiarities should not be given to the portrayal of 
one character. 

Timbres. 

The true character or inner life of a person shows itself 
in the timbre that prevails in that person's voice. Nearly every 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 163 

voice has a peculiar timbre. Timbre is character of sound. We 
distinguish voices by their peculiar and individual twang tim- 
bre which is due to the condition or position of the individual 
larynx. The nature of the timbre depends on the character of 
the channel through which the air passes. The stops of an or- 
gan change the timbre of the organ tones. A brass cornet and 
a silver cornet, exactly the same in size, have not the same tim- 
bre. The larynx and the pharnyx make the timbres in the hu- 
man voice. Some persons, especially negroes, have fat tonsils 
and excited salivary glands, which form a rich structure for 
very mellow voices. Some voices have a tin-pan timbre or a 
smoker's voice, caused by the use of cigars, cigarettes, alcohol, 
soda water or anything that hardens the tissues of the throat. 

A timbre is always an element. Timbres are used in com- 
binations with each other, like a combination of organ stops. 
They cannot be separated from bright or dark form. 

There are ten timbres : pure, orotund, guttural, nasal, oral, 
whisper, laryngeal, bell, falsetto and pectoral. 

The pectoral timbre is the chest timbre and is made by im- 
pinging the tones as low as possible in the throat. This timbre 
may be used in the words, 'T am thy father's spirit," spoken in 
low, deep tones by the ghost in Hamlet. 

The guttural timbre is the throat timbre ; it uses growling 
tones. The bright form of this timbre is often used in grand 
delivery. A closed, rough guttural timbre expresses mean 
character and hatred. An open, hard guttural timbre should 
be used in expressing the words, "I loathe you in my bosom." 
A closed, hard guttural timber would express the hate in the 
words of Shylock, "I hate him for he is a Christian." 

Every voice should have a little of the nasal timbre. The 
nasal timbre is a rich element in the voice. Nasality, however, 
which impinges the tones in the nose, is used only to portray 



i64 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

defects. A pronounced nasal tmbre is used to depict scorn, for 
instance in the words," I scorn you with mine eye." The tone 
should impinge in the nasal chamber. 

The pure timbre has no defects and serves as a center 
from which the other timbres are developed ; it depicts beauty. 
The orotund timbre is a voluminous pure timbre. The follow- 
ing line should be rendered in the pure timbre : "Look how the 
floor of heaven is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold." 
Also, "One sweetly solemn thought comes to me o'er and o'er." 

The pure timbre can be developed, first, by mechanically 
taking away vocal defects, and, secondly, by the natural way of 
reciting lines of beauty with feeling till the voice becomes pure 
and beautiful. 

The orotund timbre is produced by enlarging the throat 
for volume of sound ; it depicts grandeur. This timbre prefers 
low pitches. The student can acquire this timbre naturally by 
uttering grand thoughts till their grandeur is reflected in the 
tones of the voice. The following line may be used to develop 
the orotund timbre : "Roll on, thou dark and deep blue ocean, 
roll." 

The oral timbre confines the tones to the mouth. It rep- 
resents weakness. Use it in the following : "I am dying, bend 
down till I touch you once more." 

The whisper represents extreme secrecy. It may be used 
in such lines as : "Why, look you there, look, how it steals 
away." 

The laryngeal timbre is a sickly tone in the throat ex- 
pressing suffering. Use it in the following line : "Leave me, 
O leave me, I am so tired." 

The falsetto timbre is high and shrill like the voice of a 
cat. The following should be rendered in this timbre : "The 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 165 

barn is high, and if you slip, and fall, and die, how will my liv- 
ing be secured ? 

The bell timbre represents resonance. 

Expression may be developed naturally by connecting the 
spirit of a selection with its utterance. Proper facial expres- 
sion usually aids the expression of the feelings, but contortion 
should be avoided. Art reproduces nature by following its 
processes, principles and rules. 

Gesticulation. 

Gesticulation differs from gesture in that it assists, accom- 
panies and relieves speech by peculiar expressive actions. A 
single peculiar gesticulation is sufficient to individualze a char- 
acter creation. On the physical side of expression, nothing is 
more telling than gesticulation. Both sexes may have the same 
peculiarities. 

There are thousands of physical peculiarities which are 
used as gesticulations. Some individuals emphasize their 
statements by snapping the fingers ; some pound the desk on the 
emphatic points ; some shake the head forcibly ; some clap the 
hands together. Frenchmen gesticulate wildly with the hands, 
and shrug their shoulders in speaking. Some Jews illustrate 
their ideas by drawing the elbows against the sides and raising 
the hands with the palms facing upward. Shylock calculates 
at the tips of his fingers. A dog gesticulates with his tail ; for 
mirth, he gives it only a little movement ; for pleasure, he wags 
it from its tip to his ears. 

The effort to reproduce peculiarities will counteract the 
tendency to use them in speaking. 

Automatic Actions. 

Automatic actions often serve to establish an individual- 
ity. Au:omatic actions are fixed erroneous movements which 
are made unconsciously by nearly everybody. These actions 



i66 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

differ from gesticulation in that they are unintentional and do 
not serve to express thought. Automatic actions may occur 
with or without speech. A man may habitually swing his leg 
without saying a word. Excitement increases the rapidity of 
automatic actions. 

Automatic actions are countless in number. Some men 
habitually adjust their collar; some move the head as though 
the collar button were pressing on the neck ; some bite the lips, 
some pinch the eyebrows together constantly ; some wink hab- 
itually ; some always hold the hands behind the back ; some 
walk the floor in deep thought ; some step around in a sort of 
hen-dance; some walk like a stick; some say "thank you" con- 
stantly. Every action which is repeated often finally becomes 
automatic. 

Automatic actions are very effective in the dramatic por- 
trayal of individualities. 

It is interesting to observe automatic actions in the people 
whom we know. 

Automatic actions can be overcome only by checking them 
as soon as they occur. It takes a strong effort to overcome 
little faults. 

Refinement. 

Refinement of the body sometimes becomes a characteris- 
tic individuality. Physical refinement does not imply intellec- 
tual refinement ; great mental refinement may be accompanied 
by great physical coarseness. Carlyle possessed mental refine- 
ment only. Johnson was famous both for literary brilliancy 
and physical coarseness. Physical refinement requires the ac- 
quisition of absolute repose and supreme calmness. Audi- 
ences love refined characters. Affectation, however, should be 
avoided. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE 167 

Roughness. 

Some individuals are rough and crude. A rough man 
holds the arms stiff, spreads the feet and moves in a crude way. 
Rough persons may assume roughness in addition to their nat- 
ural roughness. A man with a rough voice may speak with 
an assumed rough and growling voice. 

Vigor. 

The natural energy of youth and the assumed energy of 
age are distinct individualities. Vigor tenses the muscles. 
Speed, however, is not vigor. Strong men have a vigorous 
walk ; the happy young man and the happy old man walk vig- 
orously. A dignified judge walks in a straight line to his 
bench, and sits down slowly ; he stands still with a lack of 
vigor when he is in deliberation. The young man with a vig- 
orous mind walks into a contest with a vigorous step, and is 
sure to win; the weak, frightened opponent walks with autb- 
matic movements. There is much difference between the vig- 
orous handshake of the university oarsman and the weak hand- 
shake of a dude who presents only his fingers. Weakness is 
the opposite of vigor. 

Youth. 

Youth has its bright and its dark sides, but each is cast in 
a crude mold. The boy under twenty and the girl under seven- 
teen are always crude. A girl of seventeen, however, is as old 
as a man 01 twenty-five. The most polished man is never as 
polished as the most polished woman. Youth is, as a rule, 
crude in what it says and does. Crudeness is very apparent in 
boys. Boys differ in crudeness according to their age and 
caste. Girls have many mannerisms. Many girls jerk the 
body around quickly, and act in quick movements. Girls with 
excessive tongue action have big open faces. A youthful girl 
often runs her tongue out in speaking. 



i68 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Maturity. 

Maturity is characterized by the various phases of reason 
in thought, word and deed. Mature men act rather than talk. 
In maturity, even the muscles seem to think. Maturity is long- 
headed. Mature people concentrate their eyes on an addressed 
person. Shakespeare portrays his clowns as mature philoso- 
phers. 

Age. 

The individuality of age plays about the various phases of 
decrepitude with an attempt to conceal it. Youth is character- 
ized by crudeness, maturity by reason, age by decrepitude. 
Age tries to appear young. An old man taking a young lady 
to church trots around her at street corners, and attempts to 
conceal that he has no sprightly spring in his steps. Age has 
an unsteady and shaky voice, caused by the shaking body. The 
voice of aged persons is oral, sickly and weak. Age walks flat- 
footed, with the knees and the head bent. Although age 
tries to seem sprightly by raising the head, the body still re- 
mains bent in a decrepit position. 

The Sexes. 

Woman is individualized by her graceful and emotional 
temperament ; man, by directness and logical moods. A man's 
mind runs to the logical side. Woman knows and grasps ideas 
by intuition, or direct knowledge, which is the highest form of 
intellect ; she arrives at facts without logical processes. A 
woman will say, "the room is too warm," a man will arrive at 
that conclusion by looking at the thermometer. Woman by her 
manner of living is more graceful than man. Man states a 
series of facts with physical energy ; woman, with emotion. 
Man is more physical and can do more rough work than a 
woman. Book agents play on the feelings of women; before 
men they must show reasons. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 169 

Dialects. 

Peculiarities of dialect sometimes serve to establish an in- 
dividuality. This is especially true of foreigners trying to 
speak English ; they speak their own language, however, with- 
out any peculiarity. When the speaker or reciter wishes to rep- 
resent such dialects or tell a story in dialect, he should not be- 
come too realistic ; a few peculiarities of dialect will be suffi- 
cient. 

The delicious brogue of the Irish can be reproduced by 
drawing the upper lip below and behind the lower lip, and from 
that position making the necessary consonant and vowel 
changes. 

Frenchmen trying to speak English are represented as 
speaking rapidly in slightly nasal tones, with precise syllables, 
and an excessive use of the long E sound ; ^'the" they say '*zee." 
They gesticulate much. 

The Italians end as many words as possible with vowels. 

Jewish dialects are a corrupt German. 

When Mongolians try to speak English, they use the 
tongue merely as a clapper which strikes flatly against the 
gums. Their favorite consonant is L ; their favorite vowel 
long E. Their tongue and their lips are held flat, and their 
mouth is spread. 

Negroes mouth the vowels and slide the consonants. They 
use the oral timbre. The negro oral timbre can be acquired 
quickly by commencing the sound "hoo", in an oral high tone 
sounding like a moaning wind, and speaking in the same tone 
in a lower pitch. 

Character Creation. 

Speakers sometimes impersonate exceptional characters. 
Common peculiarities and oddities should not be added to such 
impersonations. A character creation of an old man can be 



170 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

produced by representing an old man as always wetting the 
thumb on the tongue before turning the leaves in a book. 
Authors love to create imaginary characters. Sometimes five 
or six real persons serve as the basis for one imaginary charac- 
ter. 

Portraying Character. 

There are three ways of portraying character : reading as- 
sumption; portrayal, or suggestive rendition; and full charac- 
terization, or impersonation. 

The reading rendition of a character has nothing to do 
with reading from a book, but is a simple effort on the part of 
a speaker or reciter to express and present the thought of a 
character as well as possible. This is the ordinary way of 
speaking and reciting. The reading rendition would make no 
attempt to portray a darkey, but would only represent and re- 
produce hij thoughts. Especial care is required in the reading 
rendition of Bible characters. 

Suggestive rendition is the highest form of dramatic art, 
and pleases audiences the most. The suggestive rendition of 
a darkey would suggest the voice, face, gestures and speech of 
a negro; the reciter would not put on the darkey's color and 
dress, but would remain himself. The suggestion is always 
stronger than the reality ; the contrast between the reciter and 
his work makes the suggestive rendition interesting. It is 
better to be taken for an artistic negro than to appear as a real, 
perhaps dirty, negro; perfection would in ihat case mean de- 
struction. When animal noises are to be reproduced, they 
should not be rendered in full force. The reciter should not 
assume the full roughness of a laborer or a mechanic, but 
should let the audience work out some of the details. Actions 
should not be fully reproduced. Distance may be suggested by 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 171 

the half approach of the hand toward the eye, as if the eye 
were going to gaze far away; appropriate facial expression 
may be added. A suggestion of the distance is much better 
than an actual tracing of the distance. A step may be suggest- 
ed by half a step. Imitative reproductions are crude. The 
minister may suggest Christ and St. Paul, but he must never 
act them. 

Impersonations belong mostly to acting. In the imper- 
sonation, the impersonator loses himself entirely, and appears 
as the character portrayed; he passes out of himself and 
changes completely in dress, features and expression, with or 
without the aid of pencils, washes and make-up. A negro im- 
personation could not be distinguished from a real negro. In 
looking, the impersonator would place the hand over the eye 
and actually look. 

Although the impersonator speaks and acts for the audi- 
ence, he should nevertheless leave something to the imagina- 
tion of the audience. Suggestion is necessary even in full im- 
personations. 

Children impersonate at will till they ire old enough to 
become conscious of self. When a child is placed on exhibi- 
tion, artificiality at once sets in. The education of repression 
forbids people to laugh, cry or visibly to enjoy themselves. The 
wall of repression should be broken down, and the emotions 
should be permitted to play freely. Elocutionists are unnat- 
ural because they merely decorate the plaster of expression with 
artificiality. 

A speaker should catch all the senses of an audience. A 
good speaker always has command of the public ear. The 
glory of Cicero enhances in fame with the march of the cen- 
turies. 



CHAPTER EIGHT. 



PUBLIC SPEAKING. 



Natural Speaking. 

It is most difficult to speak naturally when one tries to do 
so. Few persons have self-control before an audience. Any- 
body can sit down to breakfast at home with perfect ease, but 
it is difficult to sit down to breakfast before an audience. The 
difficulty in public work is caused by a forced effort to act with 
ease and self-control. The natural voice and action of the 
platform are unnatural compared with the voice and the action 
of daily life; the larger surroundings naturally require a 
larger action and a stronger voice. The orator who desires to 
speak naturally cannot always speak as he would at home with 
a plate of soup before him. 

The hackneyed advice to address audiences in a natural, 
conversational voice is very misleading. The conversational 
voice is not the only natural voice. A grand description like 
that of Mt. Blanc by Coleridge cannot be rendered in a conven- 
tional voice. True art adheres to nature, but nature is not or- 
dinary life only. People love to hear speakers who are elevat- 
ing. When conversational tones must be used in public speak- 
ing, they must be on a larger scale than those of ordinary con- 
versation. Ordinary conversation is usually carried on in mon- 
grel tones ; public conversation requires a good voice. 

Ease in the use of voice and action can be acquired only 
by a conscious coordination of the voice and the action. This 
coordination must be developed by constant practice. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 173 

Mind, muscle, nerves and soul may be called the four de- 
partments of human being. The distribution of the gray mat- 
ter of the brain through the body in the ganglionic cells enables 
the mind to subject the whole body to a harmonious coordina- 
tion of all its members. The mind and the muscular system 
should work together according to mental and physical laws ; 
the nervous system and the soul should work in harmony with 
the emotional and the moral laws. 

Embarrassment is caused by self-consciousness. Self-con- 
trol is both consciousness of power and freedom from embar- 
rassment. Mere stillness is not self-control. Physical embar- 
rassment is a lack of perfect control of the muscles ; it is over- 
come by a gradual control of the muscles. Nervous embarrass- 
ment is a lack of perfect control of the feelings ; it is overcome 
by dynamic control of the forces that manifest themselves 
through physical organism. Mental embarrassment is a lack 
of perfect control in formulating ideas ; it is overcome by habits 
of analysis. Speech embarrassment is a lack of perfect control 
in expressing ideas ; it is overcome by control of the fluency of 
speech. Smoothness or readiness in rendering thought is the 
result of continuity of thought. Smoothness of speech may be 
aided by smoothness of action. The voice can be made to flow 
smoothly by forcing the muscles to act with the words. 

Artistic impulses cannot develop unless restraints and limi- 
tations are removed. A speaker will be a stick as long as his 
voice and his actions do not respond to his will. Beginners 
especially are restrained in the art of expression and cannot ex- 
tricate themselves to do the right thing in the right way. 

The pupil who desires to acquire ease in appearance must 
learn how to sit, to rise, to walk and to stand before an audi- 
ence. Ease in the expression of thought before an audience 
will follow. One famous teacher, therefore, began his instruc- 



174 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

tions in the art of expression by inviting his pupils to walk in 
his garden ; the pupils at once manf ested embarrassment ; when 
the teacher passed them and raised his hat to them, they did 
likewise; when he shook hands with them, they responded with 
a rough grasp. By this process they finally acquired ease in 
physical expression and were ready for vocal expression. 

Proper sitting requires that one heel should be behind the 
other, and that both feet should be near the chair. When the 
body rises, the weight must be thrown on the retired foot ; this 
leaves the other foot free. A standing position is graceful 
only when one foot is a little behind the other ; the retired limb 
should be only partly visible from the front. The limbs should 
never be held wide apart ; a sailor walk is the only exception to 
this rule. The audience should not be able to look through any 
space between the speaker's limbs. A standing position is 
graceful when the base is as small as possible. 
Beginning an Address. 

An address should be weak in the beginning and strong 
in the end. A weak beginning paves the way to great success. 

Ambitious persons are impetuous. Strong characters, 
however, control and overcome their impetuosity. Wendell 
Phillips spoke in a languid, oily voice. Cicero curbed his ve- 
hement delivery, and spoke quietly. 

The beginning of an address should be relatively weak. 
Good speaking is built on the laws of logical increase. An 
Easter sermon may begin with triumphant gladness, but it 
must be stronger in the end than in the beginning. Depression 
in the end would be disastrous. The speaker who, in the be- 
ginning, holds the audience with quiet control, then gradually 
changes its mild disappointment into surprise, and finally dis- 
plays marvelous power in the end, will make a great impres- 
sion. The beginning may be slower than necessary. Action 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 175 

also should be taken up only under the law of momentum. The 
body should cooperate with the mind and the voice in a grada- 
tion of increase in power. If this process is not observed, fail- 
ure will be certain. An audience will surely be disappointed 
if it expects much in the beginning and gets very little in the 
end. 

The opening propositions of an address snould be laid 
down gently. The speaker should appear before an audience 
with the sincere desire not to inflict himself upon the people. 
An audience will sympathize with the man who is at a disad- 
vantage. The speaker should therefore begin his work in a 
simple natural manner. Unless the audience is prepared, it 
will resist positive and absolute propositions with instantaneous 
resistance. A bold beginning is a challenge which arouses the 
opposition of the audience. Audiences will also resist the con- 
ceit of the man who conveys the impression that he considers 
himself better than his audience. Speakers cannot accomplish 
anything till they have the good will of the audience. 

Although the speaker must unfold his power gradually,, 
yet the audience should not be permitted at any stage to sup- 
pose that the speaker has no power. The progress of the work 
must not be too smooth. A speaker should in this respect 
learn from acrobats who do not go through their work smooth- 
ly lest the audience think it easy. After the audience has been 
gained, the speaker must gradually increase his hold upon it. 
The work must grow in importance. The satisfaction of the 
people will increase when they see that the speaker is equal to 
the occasion ; they will be carried away when their highest ex- 
pectations are exceeded in the end. 

Bible and H5min Reading. 

The first and most essential principle in Bible and hymn 
reading is the suppression of self and of all display of artistic 



176 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

effort. The reader should serve only as a channel for the con- 
veyance of the truth. The only personal element that should 
be added to the reading is the subdued manifestation of a virile, 
vigorous and heroic temperament. 

The second element in Bible and hymn reading is dignity. 
The heart and the soul should be in the reading. This re- 
quires the use of the dark form. If a very dark form is used, 
the reading becomes too solemn and serious. Dignity in the 
voice may be sufficiently expressed by the use of the fifth form, 
v^hich is neither bright nor dark. The flesh predominates in 
the bright, vital and physical voice. The soul comes forth in 
the half dark form which is neither bright nor gloomy. A 
tinge of the dark form in reading reveals, feeling and makes 
the reading dignified. 

A third requisite of good Bible reading is grandeur. 
The grandeur of the inspired word is e:j^pressed in the voice by 
full and grand tones. The sound of the voice should harmon- 
ize with the meaning of the words. The voice is grand when 
it uses the orotund timbre, which combines volume, resonance 
and thorough stress. The pure timbre would make the voice 
beautiful, but it lacks volume and depth. The volume of voice 
required by the orotund timbre does not mean that the reading 
must be loud. When the voice is too strong, the reading be- 
comes physical. Volume in the voice should not drown the 
consonants. 

Bible and hymn reading must, of course, like all reading, 
have meaning. Meaning is given to words by modulation and 
emphasis. The glides and the stresses are very important in 
giving meaning to words. If the glides are taken out of the 
words, the reading will sound like a singsong. The glides 
should be neither too long nor too short ; long glides are argu- 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 177 

mentative, short glides make the reading short and jerky. The 
principal stress in Bible reading should be the median stress, 
which depicts beauty. This stress is formed by swelling and 
diminishing the voice on the syllables. 

The Bible and hymn reader must not read everything in 
the same manner. One selection should never be read twice 
in the same way. Two selections should not be read alike. 
Every selection may be rendered in various ways. The rendi- 
tion must always adjust itself to the state of the feelings and 
to the requirements of the occasion. Soldiers victorious in 
battle would recite a psalm with a triumphant voice ; an old 
man would read the same psalm with stiffened lips and with 
dark tones in the voice. 

A careful immediate preparation is required for public 
Bible reading. The text should be read aloud, at home, with 
strength of voice, not once, but many times. Each reading 
will make the meaning of the verses clearer, and increase the 
expression of the soul and the spirit by means of the voice. 
Progress in reading must be made in the emotions. 

A minister must adapt himself in his reading and preach- 
ing to his audience. Personal power often comes from the 
responsive relation between the speaker and the audience. 
Speakers, therefore, frequently have more power at one time 
than at another. The preacher must never stand as if he were 
a stranger in the gates, but he must come in with the audience. 
The people should not see ice-water in his face, instead of 
blood. His very first words should make the audience his 
friends, and all his utterances should appeal to the plainest in- 
tellect without causing a diminution of the worth and value of 
his work. The work of a speaker will not be successful unless 
he gets as close as possible to the hearts of the people. 



178 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

Pictures from Life. 

Audiences always enjoy refined reproductions and touches 
of life. Every address should contain some touch of human 
nature which will be remembered. Stories from life told by a 
refined speaker are always telling. The best lecturers work in 
illustrations. Audiences are greatly impressed when the work 
of a speaker is true to life. 

Care must be taken in the use of anecdotes. If anecdotes 
are not used right, a lecture will fall to pieces. Illustrations 
should not be used in the beginning of an address. Startling 
and strong anecdotes should be avoided, because they always 
react unfavorably. The speaker should never descend to low 
humor, bombastic style and the pyrotechnics of elocution. 

The speaker should preserve instructive observations and 
stories by writing them down. A written record should also 
be kept of the thoughts which the creative function of the brain 
has inspired ; every recurrence of the thought and every refer- 
ence to it will stimulate the brain to increased and larger activ- 
ity. Every word, feeling, impression, impulse and thought of 
an inspiring nature which arises during the inspiration of a 
public address, should be preserved in writing for future use. 
Some ministers, therefore, begin work on a new sermon im- 
mediately after the Sunday services, in order that they may 
utilize the mental exhilaration produced by successful work. 
This also helps to make the work true to life. 

Reciters must know how to arrange programs. A pro- 
gram of recitations should consist of short and pointed recita- 
tions. One of the most successful entertainers, Marshall P. 
Wilder, entertained only for about twenty minutes, at each 
entertainment with a program consisting entirely of little 
sketches and anecdotes. The program should be varied. 
Tragedy should alternate with comedy; pathos should be 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 179 

mingled with humor. If music is on the program, singing 
also is required for balance. No part of the program should 
consist only of one kind of entertainment, such as music or re- 
citations. The weakest and the shortest numbers should al- 
ways be given in the first part of the program. The strongest 
selection should be at the end. 

Proper Spirit. 

The speaker must live in his work and thoroughly absorb 
it into his nervous system. The mind and the heart must be 
imbued with the spirit of the work. The words must be 
studied till the mind catches the ideas. The whole work must 
be reviewed so frequently that expressive action will come of 
itself. Most of the time should be spent only on the gems of 
thought and language which are to be presented. The speaker 
who has mastered his thoughts may in speaking forget the 
words which he intended to use without experiencing any in- 
terruption in the work. The speaker who works out his 
speeches with great care will always be ready even when he is 
called on for unexpected work. 

The nervous system absorbs the work rapidly when the 
thinking, acting and speaking is done in solitude before imag- 
inary audiences. Solitude facilitates the development of char- 
acter. Valuable physical training may be derived from prac- 
tice before imaginary audiences by the assumption of an atti- 
tude of general polish. 

It is not necessary to repeat words aloud in order to catch 
their spirit. Singers learn a song by muttering it before they 
sing it aloud. The muttering style of preparatory rendition 
does not vocalize the words but merely mutters them with in- 
tensity of feeling without letting out any force of voice during 
the practice. This style of rehearsing develops the voice from 



i8o VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

the nerves and stores away a vast amount of magnetism in the 
soul. The mouth should articulate the words with every de- 
gree of force ; the feelings, however, should not be suppressed 
in the least. Webster developed one of his great speeches in 
this manner while sitting in a boat and fishing. 

The spirit of the work often depends on its local coloring. 
Gray's Elegy breathes the spirit of a neglected churchyard. 
Actors appreciate the value of local coloring. When the great 
actor Booth was preparing his interpretation of Shylock, he 
lived and associated with Hebrews for weeks ; before the pre- 
sentation of the play, he would shut himself up in his room for 
days and wrap himself up in the desired character. Ministers 
catch the spirit of their work by brooding over their sermons. 

Many interpretations are possible for a single selection or 
thought. The rendition must follow the feelings, the thought 
and the personality of the speaker, and adapt itself to time, 
place, and circumstances. One rendition may be natural on 
one occasion and unnatural on another. 

Applause. 

Good speaking usually wins applause. Even the minister 
in the pulpit can tell exactly by the looks of the people at what 
points he has gained the silent applause of the congregation. 

Every speaker should make every possible effort to win 
applause before the end of his work. When the orator has 
reached a point where there should be applause, he should bid 
for it and indirectly wait for it ; this will nearly always draw 
the applause. A direct pause should not be made for applause. 
Spontaneous applause should never be cut off. Applause which 
bursts out and interrupts the work ia genuine and highly com- 
plimentary to the speaker. Laughter is genuine applause. 
Audiences often applaud in the wrong place. When the speaker 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. i8i 

must cut the applause off, he should continue in his work by 
saying a few words; as soon as the audience begins to listen, 
he should repeat the words which he uttered to interrupt the 
applause in order that nothing may be lost. 

Speakers frequently win applause only by the way in 
which they do their work. The very finest work can be done 
by the use of intense magnetic feeling accompanied by a con- 
tinual, momentary, winning control of the audience. The true 
artist should constantly try to do better. There is no limit to 
personal improvement. It is said that Hogarth, the painter, 
was never unhappy in his art till he produced a painting with 
which he was satisfied. 

Telling Points. 

The speaker should endeavor to make telling points. Work 
that has no telling points will fall flat before an audience. 

Speakers must learn to speak and act slowly. Hurry is 
characteristic of amateur work. Good speaking does not rush 
on like a locomotive steaming ahead with an open throttle. The 
speaker must have time to make telling points. Mentality alone 
will not hold an audience. 

Speakers should elaborate their work. Every point should 
be carefully considered, and rehearsals should be held to make 
the work telling. 

The effort to make a telling point should begin soon 
enough to let the audience get ready for the telling point. As 
long as a thought holds an audience at a telling point, the art- 
ist must pause and let the audience drink in the enthusiasm 
which he has created. A good speaker always knows what 
the audience is thinking. 

Telling points should be climacteric. Each successive 
point should be stronger than the preceding point ; all the points 



i82 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

should lead up to a climax on the last and strongest point. The 
work should end soon after the final climax is reached ; the cli- 
max is the end. No oration, recitation, scene or play should 
ever end in an anticlimax. An audience is restless during an 
anticlimax. 

The final climax in voice and action may be consummated 
with great effect by an attitude. When the voice and the ac- 
tion have reached their highest pitch, the speaker may prolong 
the effect by holding the final attitude as immovable as a statue 
in the supreme effort to compel the audience to applaud. The 
success of the effort depends on holding the attitude till it sinks 
into the audience. The least motion would destroy the effect 
of the attitude. The attitude may be used whenever the voice 
and the action end in a climax during the work. 



CHAPTER NINE. 



THE LYCEUM. 

Placing the Voice. 

The lyceum includes all work before the public in an 
instructive and entertaining way, such as lectures, enter- 
tainments and the management of audiences. 

The voice must be used in such a way that the words 
will reach every person in the audience. The varying size 
of audiences and auditoriums requires a varied placing 
and adaptation of the voice to suit the hall, the occasion, 
the audience and the individual. The speaker must ascer- 
tain how much voice he will need and how far his voice 
must go. The sounds must fit the receiving capacity of the 
audience. 

Special care must be taken in speaking to large audi- 
ences. A large audience requires large and slow action, 
strong voice and slow time. In a large hall, the words 
must be spoken slowly and deliberately. The larger and 
more restless the audience, the slower should be the time 
and the more intense the voice. The words will be in har- 
mony with the largeness of the audience only when they 
are uttered slowly and distinctly. The speaker should, as 
a rule, address the last person and the last row in the au- 
dience ; from this general direction he should turn occasion- 
ally toward individuals in the different parts of the audi- 
ence and of the platform. The words should be thrown to 
the end of the hall with thought and will power in the 



i84 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

tones of the voice. Every syllable must be uttered with 
a firm muscular touch. The consonants must be coined 
very clearly. Distinct consonants carry the voice farther 
than loudness. Loud tones should not be used unless the 
consonants also are very strong. Physical force has a ten- 
dency to drown the syllables and the consonants. In 
speaking out of doors, the speaker should always stand 
with his back against the wind; the wind will then carry 
the sounds toward the audience, which should face the 
wind. 

The speaker can by mental power place his voice ex- 
actly at one spot and upon one person, without looking. 
When the mind is directed toward a certain person, the 
sounds of the voice will travel in the inaugurated direction 
as unerringly as a rifle ball. The addressed person will feel 
that it is being addressed. The speaker should acquire 
the power of speaking to one person in an audience with- 
out looking directly at that person or causing others to do 
so. A committee may be addressed while the whole au- 
dience may be meant. 

The sound must not be interrupted by anything in 
its way. The speaker must move away from persons 
who obstruct his voice and view. 

The speaker must use common sense in placing the 
voice. When the audience is small, the speaker must speak 
directly to the people, and not use a voice large enough to 
fill a convention hall. A tremendous, ill-adjusted voice is 
not business-like. There is no sense in using a sixty ton 
voice for a sixty ounce audience. 

Every room or hall has its own key-note. The key of 
the voice must be changed to harmonize with the pitch of 
each auditorium. 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 185 

When the speaker begins to speak in a strange audi- 
torium, he should speak slowly and distinctly in order that 
he may adjust his voice to the surroundings. The tones 
should be directed to a prescribed destination. The ear 
should listen for the effect of the sounds. When the har- 
mony of tonal progression has been established, the 
speaker may proceed boldly; every ear will be attentive, 
every word will reach its destination. 

As a preparation for real work, the speaker should 
learn by practice to address an imaginary audience of as 
many as five thousand people. 

Expressive Value of Action. 

Action, especially pantomime in an ellipse, takes the 
first place in the order of value in expression. Action be- 
comes of secondary value when it is aided by the voice. 
The voice alone is of the least value in expression. The 
eye is more expressive than the face; the face is more 
expressive than the body; the body is more expressive than 
the hand; the hand is more expressive than the voice. 
Gestures are of very little value in expression. 

Pantomime is the most expressive form of action. In 
pantomime, action passes to action, and the action is 
made to tell the story. Pantomime does not use words but 
speaks with the body, the hands, the attitude and the facial 
expression. The best speakers unconsciously use panto- 
mime action in expressing themselves. Good reciters pan- 
tomime their recitations before they deliver them. As a 
man pantomimes so will he act in his speaking. The Ro- 
mans were masters of pantomime. 

All pantomime begins with the action of the eyes. 
The ear is an indirect channel to the brain. Action appeals 



1 86 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

directly to the brain through the eyes. The eye often un^ 
derstands when the ear hears nothing. The effect of a 
speaker's words depends largely upon the expression of his 
eyes. Audiences always watch the eyes of the speaker. 
The action of the eyes should, as a rule, precede the ex- 
pression of the words. When the speaker is nervous, he 
will not be able to concentrate the action of his eyes, and 
his voice will not be open and round. Some speakers are 
frightened by the lightning in the eyes of the people in the 
front rows of the audience and the darkness of the human 
thundercloud beyond. Consciousness of mind is necessary 
to overcome nervousness also in the use of the eyes. 

Facial expression is nearly as expressive as the expres-- 
sion of the eyes. The audience studies both the face and 
the eyes of the speaker. The face reflects the speaker's 
mind and feelings. The expression in the speaker's face 
will be reproduced in the faces of the audience. When the 
facial expression is wrong, everything will be wrong. The 
expression of the face should receive attention before men- 
tal or emotional tone color is given to the words. The 
face lends color to the expressive action of the body. Tal- 
mage had more power in his face than in his voice. 

The face and the eyes can be used to take the place 
of the body and the hands in expression. The action of the 
face shows interest, expresses thought, and colors the 
voice. If the hands were tied, the eyes alone could desig- 
nate any person or any part of a vast amphitheater. The 
meaning of the eye is more intense than the meaning of 
the hand. 

Audiences absorb the work of a speaker in various 
ways and degrees. The highest kind of mental absorption 
is able to read a speaker's thoughts before he is half 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 187 

through with the words. Since the eye is quicker than 
the ear, audiences absorb quickly what they can see. 

The voice produces the least mental absorption. The 
mind may hear every word without catching a single 
thought. The ear becomes dull when it is surfeited with 
sounds. Men in a boiler shop cease to pay attention to 
the noise. Some people sleep comfortably during the 
loudest preaching. 

Control of Audiences. 

The magnetic control of audiences should not be con- 
founded with mechanical control. Magnetic control was 
discussed in another chapter. The helps given here be- 
long to the mechanical control of audiences. 

The placing of the voice should be accompanied by a 
constant, minute and momentary study of the audience, 
in order that the speaker may be able to constantly gauge 
the value of his work. The speaker must feel the audience 
all the time, even when he depicts scenes or otherwise 
throws himself absolutely into his work. He must con- 
stantly place his voice upon the persons who are farthest 
away or most distant in interest. The study of the effect 
of the work on the audience should be analyzing to the 
finest degree. The speaker's valuation of his efforts will 
tell him that an immediate change of methods is impera- 
tive when the interest of the audience lags. A tired and 
restless audience is an evidence of failure. 

The vocal control of audiences may be summarized 
in the advice to lower the pitch, reduce the speed, darken 
the form, and use the radical stress. These helps used 
singly or combined, serve to control a restless audience 
and to subdue an unruly school. A high pitch scatters the 



i88 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

interest of an audience; a low pitch is both serious and 
pleasing. Both slow time and low pitch stand for serious- 
ness, which is the very element that holds audiences in 
check. The speaker who wishes to control an audience 
must therefore slow the time and lower the pitch. Great 
speed cannot be used unless the audience is dead-still. 
When a break occurs in the interest of the audience, the 
speaker should at once add a shade of the dark form to his 
voice; the slight darkening will regain the lost attention. 
The dark form represents impressive soul power. The 
addition of the radical stress, which cuts syllables clearly, 
would add the element of will power to the control of the 
audience. The use of the radical stress wakes the audi- 
ence up ; it also shows that the speaker is waking up. The 
audience should always be held back till it is under con- 
trol; when it is under control, the speaker may measure his 
power over it. Amateurs would rush ahead and try to 
hold the audience spellbound by the continuous rattle of 
their words. 

The ellipse, or pause, is another aid in controUing an 
audience because it compels the audience to work out 
something in its own mind and to anticipate what is going 
to be said. The pause gives the audience time to think and 
to drink in the thought. A deliberate expressive pause be- 
fore a word at once makes the audience anxious to know 
what is coming. Thus the pause helps the speaker to get 
a powerful control over his audience. The pitch of the 
voice may be lowered after an ellipse. A long pause may 
be followed by a very low pitch. 

Reciters use the pantomime ellipse to tell a story with- 
out words during a pause in the speaking. Pauses are 
doubly effective in controlling an audience when they are 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 189 

not only filled out with expressive meaning but also with 
expressive action. Speakers can do this only to a limited 
extent. When the speaker uses the pantomime ellipse, 
he should not speak and act at the same time. Friends 
show true joy in meeting each other when they shake 
hands silently and then speak. President Garfield gained 
the attention of an uncontrolled mob in New York by rais- 
ing his right arm high and holding this attitude without 
a word. 

The eye should be used to the fullest extent in con- 
trolling audiences, both in objective and in subjective 
work. Objective work seeks to present thought as clearly 
as possible. The objective speaker should, as a rule, never 
take his eyes off the audience but let his gaze rest momen- 
tarily first on one then on another person. The persons 
who have been addressed in this manner will not lose in- 
terest for half an hour. Ministers lose control over their 
audiences when they continually look off into space. 
When objective speakers depict scenes in a subjective man- 
ner, the eyes must follow the scenes till they are finished 
and then return to the audience. The audience always 
follows the eyes of a speaker. Subjective work is dra- 
matic and emotional. Subjective speakers act with their 
eyes not only in expressing their ideas but also in express- 
ing their feelings. An expressive use of the eyes gives 
the subjective speaker strong control over his audience. 

Action also is of great value in controlling an audi- 
ence because it holds the eye of the audience and reaches 
the brain by direct impression. Action includes every- 
thing that the body does to aid expression. The speaker 
should use as much expressive action as possible. The best 



190 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

kind of expressive action is an intelligent expression of the 
face. 

The speaker must not mistake hard muscular labor 
for expressive action. The force of action that is necessary 
to drive a thought home should be as gentle as that of a 
giant sweeping dust from a table. All expression should be 
balanced. Energetic expression should never end in rant- 
ing; quiet expression should never be tame or insipid. 
Good speakers neither strive after mechanical effects nor 
make any apparent strained efforts in speaking. Audi- 
ences are repelled by forced expression. A speaker should 
simply desire and try to do the work of speaking as well 
as possible. 

There is great power in quiet expression. Speakers 
must caress their audiences and not fire wooden balls at 
them. The quietest work may be full of magnetism. An 
audience may be electrified by a single word or action. 
Orators may be compelled to thunder occasionally, but 
they must not thunder all the time. Speakers who do 
nothing but raise storms do nothing but damage. 

Another element in controlling audiences is the use 
of will power. The words should be directed and expressed 
by an active will. The active will not only means what the 
words say, but utters the words with a definite purpose. 
All utterances should be specific; generalizations are dull. 
The speakers should not even look at an audience without 
looking mentally and with a conscious purpose. In say- 
ing, "I am glad to see you," the speaker should in fact be 
glad. The body may by the aid of the will be thrown into 
a tense condition which will magnetize the audience. 

When the audience does not respond and its interest 
lags, the speaker will feel as though he were speaking to 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 191 

a confusion of fine sounds all around him; when he is in 
control of the audience, he will feel what he is saying. 
Words should never be recited at an audience without 
conscious meaning and feeling. 

The speaker must move the audience, and not him- 
self. Amateurs alone allow their feelings to have sway 
over their mind. The speaker must not be overcome even 
by the most touching scenes. If the speaker breaks the 
spell of his work, he will not be able to regain control of 
the audience. 

A speaker cannot get intelligent control of an audi- 
ence unless he makes a special study of each audience 
and finds out what to do with it; he must understand its 
nature and correctly gauge its mental calibre. This is a 
psychological necessity. 

No speaker should ever underestimate the people. 
The average human being is endowed with real and ear- 
nest education of life. The less an audience knows of 
books, the more it knows of real life. Children are the 
keenest observers. No audience is ignorant. All audi- 
ences understand speakers whose work is true to life and 
whose logic is easily understood. Audiences do not think 
fast, but they feel fast. 

When the speaker begins his work, he should be as 
nearly neutral as possible for a few minutes in order that 
he may become accustomed to the audience and that the 
audience may become accustomed to him. Both the voice, 
and the action should not show any effort. The work 
must, however, be sufficiently interesting to attract the 
various kinds of people in the audience. 

The speaker should make every effort to get the at- 
tention of the people who do not seem interested. Both 



192 VOICE TRAINING FOR SPEAKERS. 

the mind and the voice should be consciously directed 
toward the uninterested persons, but the eyes should see 
them only mentally. The speaker should always, in begin- 
ning his work, by a swift glance ascertain the individuals 
who seemingly do not appreciate his work; after that he 
should work upon them in his mind, his voice and his ac- 
tions, without looking at them directly, till he has won 
them. Thus group after group may be captured until the 
whole audience is won. 

The effect of the work may be seen by the speaker 
in the kind of attention which he receives. When the au- 
dience pays respectful attention, but engages in subdued 
conversation, keeps in motion and looks around, the 
speaker is not doing well. When the audience keeps its 
eyes on the speaker all the time, moves but slightly and 
uses fans, etc., gently, the speaker is doing fairly well. But 
when the audience is dead-still, when there is uQt a 
movement of the muscles, not a rustle of garments, and the 
audience does not breathe, then the speaker has gained 
the inner mind of the audience. The greatest compliments 
which an audience can pay a speaker are dead-still atten- 
tion and unexpected applause. Audiences love to hear 
good speakers. 

The principles of good speaking should not be treated 
as theories, but should be carried out in practice. After 
they have been absorbed by practice, they should not be 
carried into public work. A speaker should never think 
of his voice. The best orator is he who has no use for 
rules. 

The principles of expression should be executed by an 
indomitable will, a large magnetic life, a persistent yearn- 



SUBJECTIVE VOICE. 193 

ing for the object desired and the throwing out of the mag- 
netic lines toward that object or wish. 

There are no absolutely unappreciative audiences. A 
magnetic speaker can hold any audience under control. 
The smallest audience should be as important to the 
speaker as the largest. 

Perfection in the art of speaking is impossible. The 
best speakers are full of imperfections. The greater the 
artistic power of a speaker, the less will he feel that he 
has done well. 

Success does not come to the careless. The success- 
ful speaker maps out his own career. No man can check 
the inner impulse of a great mind. The mind that is both 
fertile and active will surely SUCCEED. 



OCT 301S09 



